A Splash of Water
by EMPMistress
Summary: Ayano Chisami is just a normal girl who had the stressful luxury of being confessed to by two boys on the same day at the same time. She wasn't popular until then, and the only thing making her popular are the horrible rumors being spread. When an oblivious and friendly Nagisa asks her to join the Swimming Club, how is she able to refuse? Rated M for reasons. R
1. I'm Free

"I-I'm sorry! I can't, I'm just not interested." Awkwardly, a first year girl and a second year boy stood alone in a classroom after school. The red haired girl solemnly looked up at the dark-haired boy. Her blue eyes showed resolution as she stared at him.

"I understand. Thank you for coming all the way he-" He reached his arms out to hug the girl as a parting gift, but she ducked out of the way swiftly and ran to the door in a hurry.

"No problem! Ahaha!" She chuckled and opened the door so quickly that it slammed against the wall as she got ready to leave. "Oops! Uhm- I have somewhere else to be, I'm so sorry!" Quickly, she bowed in the direction of the boy and ran down the hall which seemed to have a bit of a crowd forming.

"Join the Swim Club! We'll give you free little figurines of Iwatobi's mascot!" The girl managed to hear as she ran past. Swimming. A small smile formed on the young girl's lips as she was suddenly thrown into thought of relaxing through water. She never really swam for competition, just for fun.

Shaking herself of the thought, she quickly ran upstairs and onto the roof. By the time she got to the top, she was out of breath and her face was flushed. She opened the door, panting to see a cute first year boy from her class. This was Takano from her class. He had light brown hair and a cheeky smile. Chisami had walked home with him a few times, so of course she'd recognize him.

"Ayano-san! I'm happy you made it!" He smiled sweetly as he approached Chisami- who was relatively short for her age- even for a girl. "I- I wanted to..." He dawdled.

_Well? What are you waiting for? Confess to me, dammnit!_ The redhead didn't like it when people delayed, though she knew very well that she would do the same under these circumstances. Instead, Chisami kept her mouth shut.

"Will you please accept my feelings?!" The brunette bowed as if that would change Chisami's mind. It's not that she wasn't interested in boys, she just... wasn't interested in these ones. Though it made her look picky, Chisami didn't like boring guys who didn't know how to interest a girl even through small conversation.

"I apologize. I'm not interested in you in that way, Takano-kun." On the bright side, she at least knew this guy's name. The one before seemed to just be a secret admirer. _He didn't even have the decency to introduce himself!_ "I'm sure you'll find the right girl, though!"

"I-I see..." Never one for rejection of any kind, Sheepishly, Takano slouched his shoulders, pouted, and began making his way down the stairs, disappointed with the outcome. He'd spent hours planning his confession and he screwed up. He wondered if Chisami would have accepted it if he hadn't screwed up. Takano wallowed in self-pity as he dragged himself home.

Chisami Ayano; that was the girl's name. She wasn't popular or anything, that's for sure. Chisami was just an average first year at Iwatobi High. It just so happened that two boys confessed to her on the same day at roughly the same time... It was definitely hectic for her.

Sighing, Chisami walked to the edge of the roof to gaze at her surroundings. The pool caught her attention below. "Swimming, huh?" She remembered the swimming club that the student in the hallway was shouting about. Chisami liked swimming, but she wasn't passionate enough about it to compete- and she sure as hell wasn't good enough. What place would she have if she couldn't swim with them?

Maybe she would join if she knew someone on the team, this way she'd have someone to get along with.

* * *

Chisami grabbed her bag with a heavy sigh. It was finally the end of a long, stressful day. She didn't have anyone to walk home with, though. It had been a week since she had turned down Takano and that admirer. Takano at least joined her, now she didn't have anyone to walk with. The rumors were getting worse, too... Of course that would make it even harder to make friends to walk home with.

"Wait, Hazuki-san. It's your turn to clean the classroom this evening." The class representative grabbed Hazuki's shoulder just before he could bolt out of the classroom.

"Eh? But I have club activities." He complained while placing his things down on the front desk.

"Huh?" She checked her roster to make sure. Anyone in a club wasn't allowed to be held back from club activities. "Oh yeah! You're in the swimming club!"

"Swimming?" Chisami blurted before she was able to stop herself. It's true that she had been interested in joining the club, but she wasn't one to make friends easily. Since Hazuki from her class was in the club... Ah crap, she thought.

Hazuki and the class representative turned in the direction of the red-haired girl. Chisami's face flushed from embarrassment. "A-Ah..." Not only did she give away something out of interest, it was also something that had nothing to do with her!

"Are you interested in joining?!" Hazuki smiled brightly and grabbed ahold of Chisami's hands. "As a swimmer, right?!" The excitement in the boy's voice and the happiness on his face was so overwhelming that Chisami turned away. So there were no spots left for something like managing? Just a small social activity that let her swim but not actually compete was all she wanted! If she was a manager she could swim without competing, but joining as a swimmer meant she was bound to be forced to compete!

"Yes! I-I mean no! Yes?" Chisami stuttered as her body argued with her thoughts. She didn't want to join the swim club as a swimmer- but...

"We don't have any female swimmers! So it'd be nice to have one or two!" Hazuki kept prying at the poor girl to join the club. She wasn't sure at all. She'd be the only female swimmer? In a nearly all male swimming club? She wasn't one for looking at attractive boys, but Hazuki's in the club, so she didn't exactly have no reason to join.

"Alright..." Chisami swallowed hard and averted her gaze as Hazuki cheered.

"Yay! We have our first female swimmer now! Chisa-chan, right?"_ What? He's giving me nicknames now?! At least it's cute_, Chisami thought. Thankfully it wasn't mean or insulting.

"Ye-ah?!" Hazuki grabbed his bag and Chisami's hand yet again before dragging her out of the classroom. "W-What?!" Chisami was too stunned to protest. She kind of didn't want to, either- this was the first time since those rumors began spreading that someone actually wanted her to be around!

"Bye, Class Rep!" He shouted as he raced down the hall, dragging Chisami along. Of course, everyone stared at the two. Chisami wondered what new rumors would be about after this.

The two reached the pool to be greeted by a really tall young man. She recognized him, but not very well. "This is Chisa-chan! She's joining the club!" Hazuki exclaimed, taking Chisami's things from her and placing them down with everyone else's. He pulled his own swim pants out of his bag while he was at it and returned to the two.

"Hello." Chisami smiled at them bashfully. She was so grateful for not having horrible social anxiety, otherwise it would've been hard just to greet him; especially after the recent rumors going around. "Ayano Chisami. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." She bowed and glanced around to take in her surroundings.

"Tachibana Makoto." The taller boy said. He had light, fluffy brown hair and soft green eyes like emeralds, Chisami thought. "It's nice to have another member on the team." he held out his large hand. In reply, Chisami firmly shook his hand in greeting. He was a lot less energetic than Hazuki was, which made her feel a little more relaxed.

"Miss Ama-chan, this is Chisa-chan!" That energetic Hazuki was a really huge contrast to this group of people. Nonetheless, Chisami still enjoyed meeting different people and actually being able to converse without gossip or rumors.

"Oh! Hello, Chisa-chan." Miss Ama smiled and tilted her head sweetly at Chisami. Chisami took note of everyone she'd met. Everyone seemed to have above-average appearances. It made her feel a little left out. Tachibana had a charming smile and a tall height that many girls loved. Hazuki had an energetic and friendly personality and his looks weren't anything less than Makoto's, either. Even Miss Ama was exceptionally beautiful.

"Hello." Chisami smiled and looked around. "Uhm- What do I wear to swim in?"

"Oh!" The three exclaimed as if they hadn't planned this. They probably didn't plan for a new member, assuming that Hazuki did this of his own spur of the moment. No, not assuming- he definitely did. Chisami never spent much time with Hazuki, but he's a lot more energetic than she noticed in the classroom. Then again, she never paid much attention to him.

"Well, I wasn't expecting any female members, but I have a suit somewhere back here." Chisami watched as Miss Ama went into the storeroom and began looking through things. That only occupied Chisami for a moment and she quickly found herself looking into the pool. In the pool was a black haired boy, floating on his back.

Those arms. Those abs. Those Legs. Chisami was in awe as she stared at the black haired boy in the pool. He was magnificent. She wondered if everyone in this club had a body like his.

"Chisa-chan." Hazuki grabbed ahold of Chisami's arm and dragged her over to the storeroom where Miss Ama was looking for a swim suit. "Miss Ama-chan has a suit that she thinks might fit you."

"Would you mind trying this on? I'm more than positive that it'll fit you perfectly!" Miss Ama smiled. She was nowhere near positive. She was just hoping. Chisami looked at the black one piece with red stripes down the sides. They looked almost like they matched Nagisa's swim-pants which he had in his hands, but it also matched her hair so she didn't mind as much.

"Alright." Chisami sighed and headed to the change room. _Am I really doing this?_ She thought as she stripped down, folding her clothing and placing each garment in a pile on a shelf. Of course, it may help her with making friends again. Hazuki doesn't seem to know any of the rumors that have been spreading about her. All she did was reject two boys in the same day.

Chisami wasn't popular. She was just average. She got as many confessions as any normal girl; which wasn't many. Maybe twice in a whole lifetime, but the rumors spreading about her were, well, not true. Like any other rumor, they were harmful and affected her social life. Takano wasn't a friend anymore, not after that confession- and definitely not after the aftermath.

Slipping on the suit, Chisami relaxed as she stared at herself in the mirror, tying her hair to the side. She sighed before heading out to the pool. When she got to the doors she-

"Waha!"

"Ahhh!" Chisami screamed as a blonde-haired boy jumped out of nowhere. Catching her breath, she realized he just jumped out at her from the boy's changeroom. "Hazuki-kun!" She glared at him for startling her, but her glare was softened a bit. Chisami noticed Miss Ama chuckling in the back. Makoto must've be in the changeroom still, because Chisami could have sworn she heard him shriek as well.

"I scared you, right?" Hazuki smiled at her with a silly grin. When he noticed her glare he chuckled slightly and stepped back a few paces. Glancing up and down the girl, he took in her appearance to change the situation. "Your chest is a lot bigger than I thought."

Hearing those words, Chisami turned away, a heavy red hue covering her face. That was a compliment, right?_ Perverted brat, complimenting a girl like that_! "Don't say things like that to girls..." Chisami muttered, but she still thanked him. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem!" Chisami smiled and looked back at Hazuki. He had muscles as noticeable as the boy in the pool. She didn't want to admit that she thought Hazuki would have been a twig with no muscles whatsoever. "So, Chi-chan, you wanna swim?" Hazuki's face contorted for a moment. "That slipped out. but I think it's cuter! Chi-chan!"

"Ah, thank you, I suppose. I wouldn't mind swimming, but I'm not very competitive or that great. I was never in clubs or anything, but I'd be fine with swimming with you, Hazuki-kun." Chisami smiled sheepishly.

"Call me Nagisa!" Hazuki smiled and jumped into the pool.

"Nagisa-kun?" Chisami joined him quickly, but flailed in panic as she realized it was a competitive swimming pool. There was no shallow end. She coughed for a moment as Nagisa appeared beside her.

"You alright?" He seemed concerned and serious for once, which seemed like a rare occurrence. Chisami nodded only to see Nagisa duck beneath the water again. When she felt something touch her thigh, she flinched. _What was he doing down there?!_

In an instant, Nagisa had forced himself in front of Chisami and had wrapped her arms around his neck. "We'll swim like this until you're alright. I'm a breaststroke swimmer, so you don't have to worry!"

"N-Nagisa-kun- I don't think we should- Ah?!" Chisami was startled when his head went under again- he's not having difficulties, right?! When his head came up again, she relaxed a little, but not for long. Every time Nagisa's head went under and his legs kicked, Chisami would have a mini heart attack.

She had to get away from him! It took a moment, but she found an opening and let go of him before she began swimming away. "Eh?!" Nagisa followed her, though Chisami wasn't sure if it was out of spite or playfulness. Or both?

"Fweh?!" Chisami squealed when Nagisa appeared beside her. Why was he trying to scare her? "Nagisa-kun! Stop it!" She shouted back at the boy who had ducked his head under the water.

Without paying attention, Chisami knocked into what she thought was a floating pool toy- only to discovered it was the guy she saw earlier. "I'm sorry!" She stopped and when the other boy turned to see her, she froze. His gaze was as cold as ice.

"Nagisa, you should stop trying to scare the girl. She's disrupting my swimming." He sighed and went back to floating in the water without a response from Nagisa as if he didn't care for one and was warning him.

"Ah?" Nagisa seemed confused but he seemed to have calmed down. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you." He smiled and floated closer to Chisami. "I mean, maybe I was. You're pretty cute when you're frightened!" He winked, leaving Chisami speechless.

Chisami wasn't sure what to say. She turned away from Nagisa, speechless still. She's had boys interested in her obviously, but she couldn't tell if Nagisa was interested or just teasing.

Sighing, she turned back to Nagisa only to see him swimming to the edge of the pool rapidly to Tachibana. Er- maybe it'd be more friendly if she addressed him as Makoto. His body was extravagant, too. Chisami stared at the attractive boys but was snapped out of her ogling when she heard something a little less than usual.

"Mako-chan! We can advertize the club by putting Chi-chan on the poster in a bikini! Everyone would wanna join then, right?!"

…._I'll put you in a damn bikini_, Chisami thought crossly. At least she wouldn't be alone at school anymore.

* * *

_Hello! I hope you guys enjoy my Free! Iwatobi Swim Club fanfiction! _

_Please leave your reviews! I love reading them and it'd really help me out! Thank you!_


	2. A New Light

Chisami floated lazily in the pool as she watched Makoto and Nagisa having a splash fight. _Why aren't they practicing_, Chisami thought as she watched trickles of water drizzle down the boys' gorgeous torsos. She knew just how attractive these boys were, but never would she have imagined the swim club to be full of people with magnificent looks.

"Take that!" Nagisa shouted, throwing water Makoto's way who in turn dodged and shielded himself from the water. "And that!" The two of them really did seem close in Chisami's eyes. Haruka just seemed to do his own thing, though. Chisami didn't want to admit it, but she was much too intimidated by Haruka's distant personality and icy gaze. She thought of him like the icy waters of the arctic oceans that no one would dare jump into for fear of freezing to death.

"Kou-chan!" Chisami's attention shifted when she heard Makoto call the girl's name. She turned in Makoto's direction and spotted a cute girl with her red hair tied back in an updo. Nagisa had mentioned that Chisami would be the first female swimmer, meaning that this girl wasn't a swimmer. She could possibly have another role in the club or just be a friend stopping by, Chisami concluded.

"I've brought snacks for everyone!" The girl named Kou said while holding up a large bag filled with various items. Whether they were bought or made, Chisami was unable to tell. The curious redhead swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. She whipped her head from side to side to shake the water droplets out of her hair. "Oh? Who might you be?" Kou turned her attention to Chisami, and smiled sweetly.

Chisami hadn't been addressed kindly by a girl since school started and before the rumors began to spread, so she embarrassedly turned away with a light blushed. "Ayano Chisami." She said, shyly. "And you?" She looked up at the girl who was at least four inches taller than her, waiting for an answer. Though she already knew her name, it felt more proper and polite to ask.

"Matsuoka Kou!" She smiled sweetly and held her hand out for a handshake, holding the bag in the other. "Pleased to meet you." Chisami took Kou's hand and shook it gently._ Kou was really cute_, Chisami thought. Kou's hair was so long and silky and seemed to be well taken care of. Chisami's hair was a short, layered bob-cut with blunt bangs. She liked how feathery her hair was, but she was jealous of how sleek and soft Kou's hair looked in comparison. With both of their hair colours being the same hue, it was easy to compare the two.

"Chi-chan is our new member!" Nagisa exclaimed, placing his hands on Chisami's shoulder and his chin on one of his hands. "She just joined today!" Nagisa chuckled, then gave Chisami her personal space back. Chisami did like having her personal space, but she didn't mind people touching her, as long as it wasn't in an improper manner, so she was able to tolerate Nagisa really well in that regard.

"I brought snacks for everyone, so what kind of snacks do you like, Chisami?" Kou smiled and held out the bag full of snacks. They were store bought snacks wrapped in individual wrappers. Chisami wondered if Kou didn't know how to cook. Then again, she may know how to cook but was in a hurry and just bought snacks. gazing into the bag, Chisami reached in and grabbed herself a sweet pulled pork bun with a sesame seed topping.

"This one." Chisami smiled timidly, and opened the wrapper.

"Awww, you took my favourite." Nagisa pouted.

"Ah..." The redhead looked at her bun and held it out to Nagisa. "You can have a bite." She felt a little bad for taking something he really liked. She wouldn't have if she knew he liked the bun. Well, maybe she would have because it was her favourite as well.

"Really?" Nagisa cheered up and took a quick bite of the bun. It wasn't a small bite, that's for sure. "Thanks, Chi-chan!" He pulled a yakisoba sandwich out of the bag and tore open the wrapping. "You can have a bite of mine then, too!" Chisami didn't argue, she loved food, so she took a modest bite of his sandwich.

* * *

The club activities were really fun, even for only her first day. Chisami felt rejuvenated. She only didn't have friends for a week and a little bit, but it sure made her feel lonely. Chisami never thought she would have needed a social life so badly, and having this small group of new friends really made her happy; she had friends again.

"Bye, Nagisa-kun!" Chisami waved at the blonde haired boy as he went on his way. He and Kou seemed to be the only one who didn't walk with the rest of the group. Chisami wondered if they felt a little lonely walking on their own.

Ridding herself of the thought, Chisami caught up with Makoto and Haruka on their walk home. They seemed to be walking the same way as her. "Thank you for having me as a new member!" Chisami chimed as she slowed her pace to match Haruka's and Makoto's.

"We're happy to have you!" Makoto smiled back, his emerald eyes sparkling with happy sincerity. "So you're in Nagisa's class, right? He's pretty energetic around you." Makoto chuckled as he continued walking.

Makoto wasn't one to judge people. Of course he heard the rumors about Chisami, but he chose not to believe them. He first heard of her when one of his classmates started talking about her. He remembered the conversation going something like...

_"Oi, Sasaki! Did you confess to that first year? Ayano Chisami, right?" _

_"Yeah, but she wasn't interested in dating. She said she'd happily do other things for me, though. In fact, we met up after school at her place and had a little fun if you know what I'm saying. She definitely knows what she's doing, hehe."_

Makoto knew he shouldn't have been listening in but it was so out of place in the classroom that he couldn't help overhear it before class started. He didn't really care for it until Chisami showed up with Nagisa earlier today, though. Makoto being his sweet self never brought the matter up with Chisami. He just had a feeling that she wasn't that kind of girl with the way she acted around the others.

_Chisami was a sweet girl_, Makoto thought. More importantly, Chisami seemed a little awkward and timid, maybe even weird. He wondered how she was able to handle those rumors going around about her. There's no doubt she knew about the rumors spreading about her. _They weren't real, right?_ Makoto pushed that possibility aside.

"Bye." Haruka waved himself off as the three of them reached his house. He ignored the other two saying goodbye to him and headed inside. He just wanted to head to the beach after eating a small snack. He wasn't as interested in the girl named Chisami as much as his friends were. Yes, he had heard the rumors. _What a waste of time_, he thought. _She'll be a hassle, I'm sure. _

Chisami carefully watched her feet as she walked down the stone steps. "Ah?!" She was doing so well- until her foot slipped. Her eyes quickly teared up as she realized she was falling- down all of those stairs. Frantically, she tried to grab onto something to keep herself from falling.

"Chi-chan!" Makoto quickly grabbed Chisami's hand and pulled her back, saving her from imminent death or at the very least, a horrible fracture. "You should be more careful." Chisami quickly grabbed onto Makoto's arm, her whole body trembling. She really did hate stairs and this only made her more afraid of them. Makoto smiled at Chisami and began walking down the stairs with her clinging to him. He didn't really mind the contact and in this case it was completely understandable.

The two reached the bottom of the stairs slowly but surely. When they reached the bottom, Chisami's legs were still trembling immensely. "Th-thank y-you Mako-koto-ku-kun." She looked up at him, her eyes clouded over from fear.

"Be careful." Makoto smiled and ruffled Chisami's hair. "Let's just walk home, alright?" he held his large hand out for the smaller girl and she hesitated before grabbing ahold of it.

Chisami was so sheepish and weak-hearted. That's how Makoto labelled her. The rumors weren't true was what he concluded. Even so, he felt like he should ask. "Why don't you ever say anything, Chi-chan?"

"Huh?" Chisami looked up at Makoto in utter confusion. "What do you mean? I talk all the time with everyone." She tilted her head and stumbled slightly. Chisami didn't like the atmosphere at the moment. _Did Makoto know about those rumors?_

"They must bother you, right? The rumors. I know they aren't true, but how do they not bother you?" His questions confirmed that he most definitely knew. Chisami's throat tightened at the thought. _Is that why Haruka didn't talk to me?_ Chisami was afraid that Haruka may resent her for those rumors. If Makoto knew of the rumors, why wouldn't Haruka? What was worse was that she wasn't sure whether Haruka was the one to believe them or not.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Chisami squeezed Makoto's hand and averted her gaze as if to avert the problem. She didn't want to bother Makoto with her problems. Chisami was able to handle it on her own. If she didn't address the rumors they'd eventually die down on their own. "I don't know of any rumors."

"Chi-chan..." Makoto sighed. It was risky to pry into Chisami's business any further and Makoto knew that. He wouldn't address the problem anymore unless he absolutely had to. _What if he absolutely had to because something horrible happened?_ Makoto didn't want to think about that. Hopefully nothing too horrible would happen in which he had to address it.

"My house is here." Chisami said, letting go of Makoto's hand. She was glad that the two would be able to part. It wasn't that she wanted to get away from him, she just didn't want to talk to him about the rumors. "Thank you for walking me home, Makoto-kun." Chisami bowed before heading inside, leaving Makoto to walk home on his own.

* * *

_"I heard she joined the swim club! Which one do you think she's after?"_

_"I think it's Hazuki. She's always around him."_

_"No, it's probably all of them."_

Chisami gritted her teeth as the gossip flew across the classroom. _They're all stupid. I hate them. Can't they think of something better to talk about?_ The redhead tapped her fingernail on her desk impatiently as she waited for the bell to ring, signalling lunch time. Chisami already had her things packed and ready to go. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

_"You did what? Really?"_

_"You bet I did. She was begging for more."_

_"Ayano's such a slut."_

"Shut up!" Chisami stood up from her chair and screamed, tears that she had been trying to hold back streamed down her cheeks. She was trying to ignore them, but something in her just snapped. "Just shut up already- I never did anything with anyone!" She sobbed and dropped into her chair again, burying her face in the palms of her hands. "Just leave me alone..."

Nagisa and the rest of the class stared at Chisami in disbelief. She was such a quiet and innocent girl, no one really wanted to believe that it was her true persona. When Sasaki and Takano claimed to have done things with Chisami out of spite, other boys pretended they did as well, acting like it was some sort of privilege to sleep with a seemingly innocent girl.

"Chi-chan." Nagisa stood up, grabbed his bags and walked over to Chisami's desk which was only a row away. "Teacher, the swim club has an early meeting, so Chi-chan and I have to go now." He nudged Chisami's arm and she looked up at him. _There's no meeting_, she thought._ It must be to get me out of the classroom._ With no hesitation, Chisami stood up and followed Nagisa to the classroom exit. The teacher stared in disbelief before speaking up.

"Hazuki, you never told me this beforehan-", Only to be cut off.

"Gotta go!" Nagisa grabbed ahold of Chisami's hand and dragged her out of the classroom, disregarding anything the teacher was saying.

* * *

The two reached the roof as quickly as they could to avoid any of the patrolling teachers. When they got to the top, they took a seat on the ground and crossed their legs. The atmosphere was really gloomy and was putting Nagisa on edge.

Nagisa wanted to say something to Chisami but he was somewhat afraid of upsetting her further. He thought about it, but eventually the urge to say something was greater than his conscience telling him not to. "Mako-chan told me, you know." The blonde looked at Chisami who was carefully unwrapping a store bought yakisoba sandwich.

"Of course he did..." Chisami said in reply, taking a bite of the yakisoba. She turned to Nagisa and then to the ground.

"I don't believe any of those rumors, you know! You're not like that- I know it! They just think you're really pretty and they're mad that you don't like them, okay?" Nagisa was trying to cheer Chisami up, but he wasn't very good at that sort of thing- at least not with Chisami. He knew how to cheer others up easily, but he didn't know what to do under these sort of circumstances.

Chisami had these rumors being spread about her for a while, but she tried hard to ignore them. Nagisa wondered how she was even able to deal with that sort of thing, much like Makoto had claimed for himself in a phone call the night before. Chisami sighed happily. Nagisa did something really sweet for her that would have gotten him in trouble as well. For all Chisami knew, he probably would tomorrow morning.

"Thank you, Nagisa-kun..." It was a little delayed, but Chisami thanked Nagisa for his hasty retreat with her. Nagisa wasn't complaining. He smiled as he noticed Chisami smiling shyly while she ate her yakisoba.

"No problem! I'll talk to Miss Ama-chan about those rumors! Just remember that the swim club is full of your friends, okay?" Nagisa smiled and patted Chisami on the shoulder.

Chisami giggled a little as a grin filled her face. She knew the rumors wouldn't just stop, but at least she had two friends who cared about her- even while they knew those rumors.

_That was good enough_, she thought happily as Haruka and Makoto opened the door to the roof.

* * *

_Woohoo! Chapter two! I know this chapter seems a little dramatic, but I wanted to get that dramatic rumor stuff out of the way as quickly as possible! Anything about those rumors being brought up(if they're brought up) from now on won't impact Chisami as much!_

Woo~! I'm really afraid of adding Rei into the fanfiction- I plan to, but I'm afraid of writing him without the slightest idea about his personality, so I'll wait a little longer until the third episode is out.

Thank you for reading and please review!


	3. Mishaps, Kittens, and Dolphins

"I'm leaving now, mom!" Chisami called out to her mother as she trotted out the door. Standing outside waiting for her was Makoto- a boy that Chisami had actually considered a friend. "Good morning, Makoto-kun!" Chisami bowed quickly. When she looked up at the taller brunette, she smiled and tilted her head.

"You're energetic today. I'm glad." Makoto smiled at the short redhead as he took steps to a brand new day. "Huh?" He flinched when he felt someone grab his hand- Chisami. He turned to her, wide-eyed and a little shy. _I'm glad she's doing well_. He smiled and watched as Chisami puffed her cheek and turned away with a light blush on her cheeks.

Y_ou're the only one I'll hold hands with willingly, it makes me feel safe, Sir Makoto._ Chisami thought, remembering her near fall a day or so ago. Makoto was a really sweet guy and Chisami knew that- she was glad that he was her friend.

As they approached Haruka's house, Chisami squeezed Makoto's hand slightly. She was still a little uncomfortable around Haruka. Haruka was so intimidating to Chisami to the point where she squealed when he spoke to her yesterday at lunch, and it was even a compliment! She had given him half of her lunch seeing that he didn't bring a lunch, and he was complimenting her skills.

"Haru-chan's a nice guy, he's just a little hard to get used to." Makoto smiled at Chisami as they entered the house. "You kind of remind me of him, you just speak a bit more." He teased the timid girl who puffed her cheeks and glared at him. Of course, Chisami wasn't one for glaring and her glare was always softer than she had intended. Still, she had no idea how she and Haruka had anything in common! "Wait here, I'll go get him." Makoto waved as he trotted off into the bathroom.

Chisami stared at the door after Makoto had left. _I wonder... _Chisami squinted her eyes and imagined Makoto going to pull Haruka out of the tub, only to have Haruka pull him in for a deep, passionate kiss. _Other things,_ too... Like what if Makoto's fingertips slowly trailed down Haruka's bare chest until they reached his pe- Chisami's face burned a bright red as she thought of such things.

"No, Makoto-kun's only allowed to pull me up!" Chisami shouted as she darted into the bathroom to see Makoto pulling Haruka out of the tub and he was- wearing his swim pants?! "Oh dear..." Chisami's face burnt a brighter red than before when she witnessed a shocked Haruka, his hair wet and sparkling with water, droplets of water trickling down his gorgeous muscles- and then her vision went black.

"Eh?!" Makoto and Haruka watched as Chisami fell to the floor. They had no idea that she passed out due to the embarrassment of her dirty thoughts.

"We'll hide the body." Haruka said, turning to Makoto with a straight face. He was only half-joking. Makoto chuckled, appreciating a rare joke from Haruka like that. He barely ever saw the boy not serious, so he'd take what he could get. He just wouldn't hide the body.

"N-No. I think she just passed out." Makoto scratched the back of his head and kneeled down to examine Chisami's unconscious body. He poked her cheek cautiously, half-expecting her to come back to life and eat his brains or something, but- "AAHHH!" Makoto screamed and almost instantaneously grabbed onto Haruka. He stared at Chisami's body that had responded when he poked her and then glanced at Haruka before letting go and clearing his throat. "She twitched." Makoto straightened his uniform jacket and averted his gaze, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I'll carry her to school."

* * *

"Chi-chan! Wear this!" Nagisa held up a white bikini with pink cherry blossom patterning on the bottom right of each piece. Chisami stared at Nagisa's offering and tilted her head. The bikini was really cute, she thought. "It'll show off your assets! Then we can take pictures!" the blond winked and flashed a smile.

"No." Chisami crossed her arms and glared at Nagisa. By now, Nagisa was immune to Chisami's half-glares and just approached her slowly with the bikini. "I'll wear that when you wear... panties on your head!" The redhead nodded once, feeling triumphant. The boy would never do such a thing, but just in case, she backed up slightly.

Nagisa tilted his head, then grinned, narrowing his eyes. Chisami didn't want to admit it, but Nagisa looked more handsome than cute when he looked at her like that... maybe even- sexy. "Give me your panties and I'll wear them on my head. You won't need them when you wear this bikini anyways." And then he had to go and ruin Chisami's thoughts on him being even slightly sexy with that.

"What?!" Chisami stared at Nagisa, wide-eyed as he slowly approached her while she backed away. The look on his face was so mischievous- he was serious! "N-No!" The redhead turned around and ran off, looking back at Nagisa, where she was expecting cement to be- was the pool. "Gah!"

Nagisa and Makoto stared at Chisami who flailed in the pool. That day was really not her day.

When Chisami realized that she wasn't actually drowning, she swam to the edge of the pool, embarrassed of her actions. As she was climbing out, Makoto held out his hand with a gentle smile. The redhead looked up and tilted her head with a smile as she took hold of his hand. "Thank you, Makoto-kun." She giggled and climbed out of the pool with Makoto's help- the uniform was a lot heavier when wet.

When she stood up, Makoto quickly turned away with a heavy blush on his face and Nagisa's eyes widened as a big grin filled his. "Huh?" Chisami looked around, then at herself to see what everyone was staring at- her skirt! "M-My skirt!" Chisami buried her face in the palms of her hands- then squealed because someone had touched the back of her ankle. "Huah?!"

Chisami turned around to see her least favourite club member- Haruka Nanase- and he was looking up at her with an awkward stare and a flushed face! "Your skirt." He muttered, turning away as he held her skirt up to her. "Take it." Haruka didn't like the situation- at all. Sure, he thought Chisami was cute, but seeing her in her mint green panties was well- too much. He even had a backside view.

"Th-thanks." Chisami said, her voice hoarse from embarrassment as she turned around and bent over to take her skirt.

* * *

Sighing, Chisami walked with Makoto and Haruka- and Nagisa who was apparently hanging out with Haruka and Makoto that day. "Aw, cheer up! At least your panties were cute!" Nagisa chuckled as he nuzzled Chisami's head- which was low enough for him to do so! Not a lot of girls were shorter than him, so he took the opportunity to keep reminding Chisami how short she was.

_Pervert! This is your fault- I should slap you!_ Chisami's cheeks puffed, still angry from the incident at the pool. "I-I know they're cute. That's why I wear them." The reluctant redhead muttered as the group of friends continued walking. She had only been in the club for three or four days, and everyone in the club had already seen her panties! Chisami never really did have good luck.

"Oh! Haru-chan, I can see your house!" Nagisa shouted, pointing at their destination. "Chi-chan, you should come hang out with us, too!" Nagisa chuckled and nuzzled her head once more, wrapping his arms around her neck again- he'd been walking like that the entire time. "Haru-chan is a good cook!"

"I-I think I'll pas-" Chisami looked to her side to see Nagisa smiling at her in his own cheeky way. _He's so... cute. _The redhead's face flushed as she turned away, "F-Fine." She muttered, dreading every step she took that brought her closer to Haruka's house.

* * *

Chisami looked around Haruka's house, her hands clenched tightly as they rested on her thighs. Haruka's house was awfully traditional, and very tiny compared to her's. It reminded her of her grandparents' house- then again, they lived in a shrine and that was supposed to be traditional.

"Haru-chan, what are we gonna eat?" Nagisa wrapped his arms around the dark-haired boy in a friendly hug- only Nagisa had the mentality to be able to hug anyone despite how the other person felt about it.

"I forgot to go grocery shopping..." Haruka muttered, slightly embarrassed. The weather had been surprisingly good lately, so he spent his days relaxing instead of running errands. He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets before shrugging his shoulders.

"How about we order take-out?" Makoto suggested, looking in Haruka's fridge, which was indeed empty considering Haruka rarely bought a lot of ingredients for meals. "We could ask Chisami what she'd like."

Haruka pouted, he didn't really like Chisami. She was a nuisance and seemed to be pretty overdramatic- worse than Nagisa even. Nonetheless, he put up with her because Makoto and Nagisa seemed to like her- and she was cuter than most of the girls at school. At least Nagisa could tell the difference between an average-looking girl and an attractive one. The dark-haired boy sighed and slowly nodded. "Okay."

"I'll go ask!" Nagisa put his hand up and trotted out- or not. He choked as Haruka grabbed his shirt collar. "Ow ow! Haru-chan, what was that for?!"

Haruka just averted his gaze, he had little patience for anyone today- especially Nagisa. "Makoto, you go ask her." He sighed and watched as Makoto left before letting go of Nagisa's shirt collar. He saw a girl's panties today. Her ass was right in his face. He knew that she'd be a hassle and that was a great example, so he was a little cranky regarding that moment.

"Haru-chan..." Nagisa pouted and shook Haruka by the shoulder. "I wanted to ask her..." Haruka was really annoyed with how much Nagisa had attached himself to the girl so soon. He normally didn't care, but if Nagisa was this attached to the girl, he'd have a hard time getting rid of her due to the club. "Haru-chan!" Nagisa whined, realising that Haruka hadn't been paying attention to him.

"Hm?" Haruka shook his head and sighed tiredly. Anything that Nagisa had said while he was thinking completely slipped his mind. "Make tea with me." Haruka ordered, which seemed to cheer Nagisa up. At least that would occupy him for a while.

"They don't do take-out, they do pick-ups though." Makoto stuck his head into the kitchen, holding the house phone to his chest as he spoke to Haruka.

"What're you ordering?" _There he goes again_, Haruka thought as Nagisa hopped over to Makoto. The boy was so energetic, Haruka could barely handle it sometimes.

"Chinese. I'll go pick it up if you want me to?" Makoto smiled, then flinched when Nagisa hugged him. He still wasn't used to it!

"I'll go with you!" Nagisa cheered, causing Haruka to sigh as he filled a tea kettle.

"O-Okay." Makoto chuckled and finished his conversation with the receptionist on the phone before he and Nagisa headed out. Nagisa had wanted to bring Chisami along, but Makoto decided against it, still feeling bad for the poor girl from earlier. Now Haruka and Chisami were alone in the house. Together.

Chisami looked up at Haruka as he approached with a tray holding two filled tea-cups. When he placed the tray down, Chisami examined the cups before taking the one closest to her and blowing at the hot liquid. "Thank you, Haruka-kun." The redhead smiled awkwardly as she took a sip, cringing. "Hot!"

"You should have waited for it to cool." Haruka muttered, resting his chin on his hand. _She's such a nuisance. _

"I'm sorry." Chisami didn't know what she was apologizing for, but she apologized anyway. Her only response was an eye-roll from Haruka. _What a big jerk. He's so cranky!_ Chisami sighed and smiled hopefully up at the boy. "Y-Your house is very nice."

"I know." Haruka didn't appreciate that her only compliment was half-assed. Wasn't she going to tell him why his house was nice? It just seemed lazy and dishonest.

Chisami shuffled uncomfortably in her seat and averted her gaze. She had no idea how to strike up a conversation with Haruka, and was very afraid to. So instead, she examined the boy. She'd rather him be rude to her if she was being rude as well rather than him be rude to her while she was doing nothing. It made her feel like he was more justified to do so, making Haruka seem like less of a bad person.

The dark haired boy had very defined features. His skin was clear and looked soft to the touch. His eyes were like beautiful gems the colour of the ocean, and his hair was sleek straight and black. His nose had a lovely shape and was rather pretty for a boy's nose, his lips were a rosey pink and completed his facial ensemble. With Haruka's lovely cheekbones and gentle jaw, he was rather beautiful for a boy.

"What are you doing?" Haruka scowled at the girl, causing her to squeal, which made him scoff and turn away. _How annoying_, he thought.

"You're very handsome, Haruka-kun." Chisami blurted out, letting her thoughts get the best of her again. "I-I mean, I've never seen a boy with such gentle features as yours, you're very handsome compared to other boys." Chisami spoke slightly faster than usual out of embarrassment and shuffled in her seat as she played with her hair.

"Thanks, I guess." Haruka somewhat appreciated the compliment. It wasn't half-assed, so she was making an effort to be honest with him at the very least. It wasn't enough to get him to like her, but at least he didn't exactly hate her. "You're uh... pretty." Haruka coughed, feeling awkward for giving her a compliment in exchange for one. It wasn't like he lied at least- it was just something he didn't really want to say but felt like he had to.

"Thank you." Chisami's face flushed as she took another drink of her tea. She never received many compliments on her appearance, and it made her happy that someone who she didn't think liked her actually complimented her. Especially someone as dashingly handsome as Haruka. She really hoped he had meant what he had said.

Chisami shyly shuffled in her seat; she had the urge tot alk now that she had Haruka respond to her once! "Uhm, Haruka-kun, what class are you in?" She asked, taking a small drink from her tea. "I'm in Nagisa-kun's class."

_She's trying to talk to me now? And she's expecting me to reply? God damn it. _Haruka sighed and shook his head in annoyance."I'm in Miss Amakata's class. A year up." He flinched when Chisami gasped, then rolled his eyes.

"So you're my senpai? I-I'm sorry for not addressing you that way, Haruka-senpai." Haruka blinked at the girl. She knew that he and Makoto were in the same class; did she just not know they were a year up? Haruka didn't mind the suffix, but he felt a little downgraded. Senpai meant that she wasn't close to him but was only bothering him now because she admired him. It somewhat bothered him when he was admired.

"Why senpai? Kun was fine, it was better than chan." Haruka muttered. Chisami tilted her head.

"I-I'm a little..." Chisami puffed her cheeks as she thought for the right words._ If I just tell him I'm afraid of him, he'll be offended, right?_ "I'm just not as close to you as I am with Makoto-kun and Nagisa-kun..." She sighed and looked at Haruka.

"I see." Haruka looked down and pushed himself up off of the floor. _Cats._ He headed into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of cat food and two dishes. It was much better than staying there with Chisami and her attempts at conversation. He poured the food into the dishes and placed the bag back into the cupboard before heading out and placing the dishes down. Then he smiled as his usual little gang of strays showed up and began eating. Without hesitation, he easily pet one of the cats eating, smiling happily but slightly as it began purring.

"Cats." Chisami said. Haruka's smile disappeared when he heard Chisami speak. Chisami looked down to see a small group of cats eating happily. She loved cats, she just had one problem. "I didn't know you liked cats, Haruka-senpai. It's sweet of you to feed them like this." She smiled and tilted her head before cautiously heading out to get a better view.

"Do you like cats?" Haruka picked up a kitten that seemed to be curious about Chisami and held it in her direction. If she liked cats, then it wouldn't be so bad to have her around at the moment.

"I do." Chisami took out a glove from her school uniform and put it on before she pet the cat with the same hand. _How egotistic_, Haruka thought with a frown. His eyes then widened as Chisami's eyes began to water, and maybe she looked a little redder than usual.

I'm not even shirtless

, Haruka thought. He wasn't completely oblivious to girls gawking at his appearance. "Ah..." Chisami flinched as she petted the cat- then sneezed right in it's face. "Puah?!" Only to have the cat swipe it's paw with it's claws extended- right across her left cheek and nose.

Haruka put the cat down. "You're allergic." He said annoyedly before heading inside. By the looks of her body's reaction, her allergies were pretty bad. He headed to his washroom and pulled out a first-aid kit. When he reached the den, he noticed Chisami sitting there drinking her tea, her hands had little red dots all over them. "You're kidding me."

He took a seat beside Chisami and pulled out a cotton ball with tweezers as well as disinfectant. "Turn to me." He ordered, and Chisami quickly complied. She flinched when he held her chin to keep her held in place- that disinfectant was definitely going to sting. He held up the cotton ball with tweezers soaked in iodine and began dabbing at the scratch marks on Chisami's face.

"Ow!" Chisami whined and cringed. She had red dots and blotches on her face too, Haruka noticed. _What a horrible allergy. It makes her look kinda ugly. _Haruka thought as he pulled a large bandage out of the kit and placed it on the cut. "Thank you, Haruka-senpai." Chisami muttered, embarrassed to have Haruka do such a thing for her. Yet, he was still sweet for doing so.

* * *

"My cute little Chi-chan!" Nagisa nuzzled Chisami's cheek and squeezed her tightly in an embrace. "How could this have happened?! You're not cute anymooore!" Nagisa pouted, appalled with Chisami's current appearance. _That's not what you say to a girl, you idiot!_ Chisami puffed her cheeks angrily, but took the slight compliment hidden in his words.

"You think I'm cute normally?" Chisami's eyes sparkled, now she had two attractive boys who thought she was cute. Well, Nagisa thought she was cute when she wasn't having an allergic reaction- it made sense, but she still didn't like hearing it.

"Who wouldn't?" Nagisa asked, poking Chisami's cheek before turning away and digging into his Chinese food. He had chicken balls with cherry sauce and chicken fried rice with bean sprouts.

_A lot of people_, Chisami sighed sadly as she dug into her food. She wasn't even hungry anymore, but she ate regardless of how she felt.

_ I finally have a group of friends. They're so kind and sweet and they're painfully honest sometimes. But why did they choose to befriend me of all people?  
_

* * *

_Hey, everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I had internet problems and I edited on my own instead of having someone else edit for me... so yeah._

Hopefully it's up to your standards, though! I just wanted Chisami to develop with Haruka a bit ;u;  
Thank you for reading and please leave a review! 


	4. The Orca and the Penguin

Makoto peered down at Chisami as she squeezed his hand tightly. It was dark, but he could see- and feel her trembling slightly. He wondered how everything had went while he was gone- if Haruka had said something to upset her or maybe even Nagisa. He just knew that when he got back, she wasn't as cheery as she usually was. Maybe it was just that day in general. _She must have been a little out of it all day_, he thought.

He wanted so badly to address her feelings, but he knew she'd just brush him off again. Makoto wanted so badly to help Chisami out, she seemed to really like the club, but maybe she was just faking it and today made her realize that. Girls were just so complex to Makoto, this was why he never had a girlfriend. Not because they were a hassle, because he didn't want to leave his girlfriend alone in her sadness, he always wanted to be there for his friends, and what if he wasn't like that with his girlfriend? He stressed the thought.

Chisami felt out of place in the club. Everyone was so close, and she loved them all for being so kind to her in their own special ways, but for some reason she didn't feel right there. _You don't belong there, Chisami. You never will_. Chisami's bitter thoughts invaded her mind again. She tried to shake them, but subconsciously, she let go of Makoto's hand. She tried to keep her posture as she walked so that he wouldn't notice too much.

Makoto frowned and grabbed hold of Chisami's hand, causing the both of them to stop in their tracks. "Please tell me what's wrong." The words came out of his mouth without him thinking. He didn't even care- Chisami was his friend and he didn't like his friends being like this. Not Haruka, Nagisa, Rin, or Chisami. He smiled bitterly at the thought of Rin, because no one was able to help Rin, he was... he became what he is now and it hurt Makoto and he knew it hurt Haruka and even Nagisa. He didn't want that to happen to Chisami.

She tried to pull her hand away from his again, but her body didn't give her the strength to be angry; to run away, to just forget about them- she just couldn't. Chisami sniffled and slowly tilted her head to look up at Makoto. When he saw her face, his eyes widened, she had been crying the whole time. "Chi-chan..." Makoto said her name and he could feel tears welling up in his own eyes. He had always been the kind of person to cry when he saw others crying.

"You're too nice, you're all too nice." Chisami trembled as she spoke, her voice hoarse. "I don't fit in. Not with you- not with anybody." She sobbed and tried to pull away again, still lacking the strength to do so. She wanted so badly to have friends like this her entire life- the kind of friends that didn't ridicule her, the kind that were honest even if it hurt, the kind that helped her when she needed them. She couldn't accept that she was happy being Makoto and Nagisa's, and even Haruka's friend.

Makoto sighed with a smile and let go of Chisami's hand to pull her into him. "You're being silly, Chisami." Makoto stroked the red hair on her head, tinged purple with moonlight. "You do fit in with us. You may not be a guy with a girlish name, but you definitely belong." He continued stroking her hair as he spoke. "Why do you feel that way?"

Chisami sniffled and looked up at Makoto, her vision still blurry. "B-Because I always shy away from people and then I complain because I feel lonely. But it's different with you, I don't want to shy away but I feel like I should." She explained to Makoto, hoping he'd understand. "I feel like a bad person. I didn't want boring friends, so I always left people alone and they always stayed away from me. But why do I find you guys different than anyone else?"

Makoto stopped stroking Chisami's hair at that instant, his hand freezing in place as he thought. It was a bit of a puzzle, but he figured she felt guilty. She had opportunities to have friends but she shoved them away and acted as if it was their fault that she didn't accept them. He wondered how she thought of everyone else in the club if she thought this way. He wondered if she may be a little two-faced, she was definitely contradictory.

Makoto cleared his throat before he spoke, "You don't." Chisami looked up at Makoto. She didn't understand. "You don't find us different. We accepted you, you didn't accept us." He continued speaking and looked down into Chisami's dark sapphire eyes. "It's because we accepted you despite what others said, that you thought you accepted us. You were lonely and stressed because of the rumors, so it made sense that you'd want to find people who didn't seem to know or care about them." He let go of Chisami who had seemed to stop crying, coming to terms with what Makoto was saying.

"We accepted you, and because you were so lonely and wanted someone's approval, you accepted us. But now, because you pushed others away from you whether they were boring or not, you feel guilty and selfish for your past actions." He finished thinking aloud and chuckled with a sweet smile. "You're being silly, Chi-chan. Don't worry about such things. We all like having you around- even Haruka, he's just a little pessimistic. And I know you like being with us, too."

Chisami stared up at Makoto, then at the ground, then she looked back up to meet Makoto's emerald eyes once more. She swallowed before she spoke. "I-I..." She understood, but at the same time, she didn't. She shook her head, suddenly free from all of the pessimism her mind fed her. Chisami smiled and took Makoto's hand again, beginning their walk home once more. "Th-Thank you, Makoto-kun."

She smiled to herself as they walked together hand in hand. "You're welcome, Chi-chan." Makoto said with a smile. When Chisami looked up to meet his gaze, her heart beated quickly and her face flushed as she turned away.

_You're really something special... Makoto-kun.  
_

* * *

"Chi-chan is feeling better?" Nagisa grinned as he saw Chisami skip to her free-period class. She rarely ever spent free period with the club. Instead Chisami spent her free period in the music room where she sang or tried to learn the piano.

Makoto blinked at Nagisa._ He knew she was upset?_ Nagisa didn't seem to have noticed Chisami's sadness yesterday, but apparently he did. "Ah, yeah. How did you know?" The brunette was curious as to how the blonde was able to read Chisami's emotions and not say anything about it earlier.

"Oh, well she wasn't eating her food as quickly as she normally does yesterday. Chi-chan loves food, remember?" Nagisa smiled and patted Makoto's shoulder. He chuckled slightly. Of course Nagisa would realize something like that. "Oh!" He had an idea. Mischievously, he turned to view the hall that Chisami had skipped down to go to the music room. "Why don't we spy on her?"

"Eh?" Makoto wasn't shocked by Nagisa's proposition, but he didn't like it at all. "Isn't that a little... invasive?" He asked, then shrieked when Nagisa grabbed onto his arm and shook him.

"Come on! Haru-chan went home early, so we need something to do!" Nagisa pushed the idea and began dragging Makoto to the music room. He was curious to see if Chisami was any good at singing or playing the piano since he had never heard her before.

When the two reached the music room, they froze. They could already hear Chisami practicing on the piano.

"Because you've opened my eyes, I know this has to be real." Nagisa and Makoto looked at eachother, then tip-toed in, careful not to make an abrupt stop to Chisami's practice.

_**"Showering me with falling stars. Memories of us when time was ours. It's like I'm near you; like I can almost hear you."**_ Chisami's voice was gentle yet still powerful as she sang every note. Nagisa could feel his heartbeat picking up as he listened to her sing. He listened in awe as Chisami played each key and sang every note, it was almost as if she was the only one there while she sang. In this world, she was the most beautiful he had ever seen her.

_**"My wish has come true. I'm glad I found you. I'll always love you..."**_ Chisami's piece finished. She paused as if waiting for applause from an unseen audience. When she got one- she squealed. "Ah?!" She flinched and slowly turned around to see Makoto and Nagisa clapping. "W-When did you two get here?" Chisami stuttered, her face burning red.

"Somewhere around 'eyes'" Nagisa smiled and eagerly took a seat on the piano bench beside Chisami. He wasn't any good at the piano, but he played a few keys anyway, eventually finding the melody to 'My Fair Lady' and began playing it choppily. Nagisa wanted to compliment Chisami on her playing and singing, but he just... couldn't for some reason. As if something was stopping him from doing so. So he decided to keep quiet about it for once in his life.

"You sing beautifully." Makoto however, seemed to have no problem complimenting Chisami at the moment. "Do you know any other songs?" He looked down at Chisami, who was still red in the face, but she smiled and shook her head.

"Nope! Except for Twinkle Twinkle." She giggled and turned to the piano again, feeling calmer knowing that Makoto didn't think she was horrible. When she played, Nagisa stopped to listen. When she finished, she turned back to Makoto. "I don't like doing exercises, so I went straight to learning a song. It's taken me awhile to learn it, but I think I did pretty well. I can't play anything but those two songs, though."

Chisami felt a little awkward for explaining her weird practice ritual to Makoto and Nagisa. She knew it wasn't a good way to practice because it stunted her growth as a player. Nonetheless, she was still proud of what little she was able to do on a piano.

"What about singing?" Makoto chuckled. Surely she didn't only know those two songs when it came to singing. When he saw her smile brightly, he smiled along with her. He was glad to see how spirited she was today. Surely under any other circumstances, she'd have been shy about talking to him and Nagisa after they dropped in on her practice unannounced.

The redhead smiled at the mention of singing. It was something she really enjoyed doing in her free time, even if she wasn't perfect or all that amazing, she knew she had at least a decent voice so she was still proud. "I love to sing. All the time in my shower." Chisami giggled proudly and stood up. "I used to do choir when I was little."

"Wow! I can sing a little; how about we do a duet one day?" Nagisa smiled and took hold of Chisami's hands. "I'm not as good as you, but I'd really like to sing with you one time, Chi-chan!" Nagisa lied through his teeth. He had absolutely no knowledge about singing, it was almost phenomenal. He just wanted to see if Chisami would spend time with him... alone.

Chisami stared at Nagisa and swallowed. She wasn't expecting Nagisa to suddenly ask something like that- she thought he didn't care much about her singing with the way he acted- seeing as he always acted on his feelings or impulses he had. She shook her head with disbelief, causing the blond to frown, but followed up by smiling and nodding. "Of course, Nagisa-kun."

* * *

During class, Nagisa found it hard to pay attention. He always hated reading in turns during class time. Some people read too slowly or too quickly so he lost interest or just plain couldn't understand them. Today he had to pay attention, though. For English, they were practicing their dialect and enunciation by reading and studying plays that Westerner's often read or performed in theatres. Sadly, the teacher noticed Nagisa's lack of participation and casted him as the main role for the scene of today's reading. All he knew was that it was on a balcony and it was Romeo and Juliet. Guess who was Romeo.

"Hazuki-san, please read your part." The teacher ordered, forcing Nagisa to stand up from his chair and pull the book out. He turned to Chisami who was reading as Juliet- she was always Juliet for every reading because she participated the most due to her love of romance. That, and no one else really wanted to be Juliet except for some other girl who the teacher became annoyed with due to her horrible attention span. Seriously- the girl mentioned her own hair while she was in the middle of reading.

Nagisa cleared his throat before he began speaking in a pretty decent North-American accent. He was the best in his class when it came to English enunciation. "Soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun." He continued reading but failed to really pay attention, causing him to stumble a few words.

"O Romeo Romeo!" Nagisa's attention quickly changed to Chisami as she began reading her part. He didn't care for her dialect or how she spoke, he only stared at her face in profile as she read. Nagisa loved the passion that Chisami seemed to have for these little artistic things such as poetry, or music. When she sang she was the most beautiful girl in the world, he thought. When she was passionate- she was gorgeous. He smiled at the thought, then-

"Hazuki-san?! Are you paying attention?!" The teacher must have been calling Nagisa's name while he was lost in his thoughts because he seemed very impatient with the Nagisa when he had finally tuned in.

Nagisa blinked, noticing that Chisami was now staring at him along with the rest of the class. He frantically fumbled his book as he searched for what she would have read last and began reading again with haste. He amped up the dramatic interpretation- or acting- to make up for his unresponsive attitude. He was Romeo, and Chisami was his Juliet- so that only made it easier for him make it seem more real. Of course, Nagisa didn't expect to die at the end of this love story.

When class finished, Nagisa packed his things. As he did so, a few male classmates patted his back as they walked past, giving him a knowing wink. He could hear girls snickering and giggling in the classroom as they packed up their things. Nagisa really caught a lot of attention.

"Head in the clouds huh, Hazuki?" The crew chuckled and left the room quickly. The way Nagisa was staring at Chisami made it blatantly obvious. He had a crush on her. Everyone in the class knew- but he fretted over the thought of Chisami knowing. _Oh, who am I kidding?_ Nagisa sighed. He had been standing up while she read her part- making it so much more obvious that he was lost in thought about her.

Nagisa looked at his book bag after he closed it, thinking. He remembered how his first crush had went when he was younger. He tried his hardest to impress the girl- what was her name? Nagisa had the name at the tip of his toungue- oh right! The girl's name was Yukino Inoue. Nagisa had it bad for her. She was popular and pretty and he did everything to try to impress her- he even got detention countless times on her behalf. It turned out she only used him because he was so gullible and she ended up breaking his heart. He only saw it as a life-experience though, trying not to get too in the dumps about that time of his life.

When Chisami touched his arm, he snapped back into reality. Where she touched him, he felt a faint tingle and a shiver up his spine as his heart skipped a beat. He turned to Chisami, her face was flushed and her mouth was open as if she wanted to say something, but she bit her lip before speaking. "Let's go walk home with Makoto-kun. My mother's at work late tonight, so how about we all spend time at my place?"

Nagisa smiled and tilted his head. "Sure. I haven't been to your house yet, so it'd be fun!" He chuckled and took Chisami's hand as they headed out the classroom together. She was a little thrown off by it, oblivious to Nagisa's blatantly obvious crush on her- but shrugged it off. _She held Makoto's hand, so what's wrong with her holding mine?_ The blond boy looked down at his hand holding Chisami's and swallowed. I really like her...

_I have a crush._ He thought as they walked down to class one where Makoto would be waiting. _On Chisami..._

* * *

_Okay! So I wrote a bunch of chapters while my internet was down and I'll probably be uploading them like crazy after I look them over again!  
I really hope this chapter is good enough for all of you readers! Please leave a review to tell me what you think of it! I love reading them!_

Also, thank you for all of the lovely reviews you've given me. I'd also be glad to take more harsh ones- like critique and different suggestions! I like getting praise, but I also love hearing how I can improve. Thank you so much, though!

As for the lyrics in this chapter- they're an English adaptation of "My Soul, Your Beats" from Angel Beats. The English adaptation was written by of YouTube! Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!


	5. A Slip and Fall

"Chisami, you're going to school?" Nerine looked at her daughter who was fully dressed and ready to go, complete with her signature side ponytail and hair ribbon. Chisami's eyes had dark circles under them making her still seem infected with illness, and her nose was still a little red and raw from blowing her nose too much with tissues the past few days. "You look horrible." The young mother approached the sluggish girl and felt her forehead. There wasn't a fever, so that meant her appearance was only because of her poor habits from being sick, such as staying up late and too much attention to a stuffy or runny nose.

Chisami groaned at her mother, she was still more irritable than usual thanks to her bad condition but sighed afterwards. "Gee, thanks mom." The redhead said, her nose still stuffy as she looked to the dining table and saw that her mother had made a nice, hearty breakfast. Chisami knew that if she were to eat it, she'd be late for school. _But mom rarely cooks for me anymore. _"You cooked?"

Nodding with a smile, Nerine trotted happily over to the dining table and pulled a chair out for her daughter. "Please eat up! It'll make me feel better if you have a good meal in you before you go." Nerine smiled sweetly, the same way her daughter had inherited. Chisami smiled with a sigh and took a seat at the dining table to eat the breakfast her mother had made.

There was toast, eggs, and peameal bacon with a glass of pulpy orange juice and a banana on the side. Her mother had been interested in the western hemisphere of the world lately, so she was cooking different North American traditional meals. Of course, that didn't leave out their own Japanese heritage during meals, because Nerine had always kept the traditional breakfast of Nattou on the side. People often didn't like the smell, but for some reason Chisami did. It reminded her of mornings like this with her mother and that made her happy, so she kept the fermented soy bean scent stored in her memory should she ever feel lonely at breakfast.

Nerine smiled at Chisami as she ate. _I'm glad that I did something right_. She thought to herself proudly. Nerine wasn't always the most obedient child and she screwed up a lot in her high school years. In fact, screwing up and getting pregnant with Chisami may have been the only mistake she was proud of. She somewhat regretted that Chisami didn't know who her father was, but Nerine also saw that as a blessing. The man was already married to another woman and had broken Nerine's heart for she believed all of the sweet nothings he spoke to her. Thus, she decided that a man who used her for something such as sex was horrible and should be kept out of her daughter's life- not that he had any interest in Chisami anyway.

But looking at Chisami now; to see that she had become a lovely and mature young woman made Nerine so happy. The mistake that had ruined her life had created a new one in which she cherished most deeply, and suddenly the mistake didn't seem like such a mistake anymore. Nerine had done something right, and she knew she did. She only wished she didn't work so often. Chisami knew how her mother felt being away so often. Therefore she'd spend little moments like this with her mother so that neither of them felt lonely.

"I'm finished." Chisami said, finishing her last bit of nattou. "Thank you for breakfast mom." The redhead smiled and pushed her seat away from the table so that she could get out of the chair. When she did, she ran around the table to give her mother a great big hug and a loving kiss on the cheek. "I love you." Chisami said before putting her shoes on and racing out the door, leaving Nerine with a gentle smile as she watched her daughter run off.

* * *

When Chisami got to school the halls were virtually empty, meaning she was almost definitely late for classes like she had predicted. Chisami jogged down the corridors with much haste to get to her classroom. When she saw that the door was open, she peered in to see that the teacher's back was to the class- and the door! Chisami walked in backwards with big strides, keeping her eye on the teacher. The class watched as she did so, holding in snickers. When the teacher turned around, Chisami paused for less than a second and began walking forwards as if she had been trying to sneak out of class.

"Ayano-san, please get back in your seat." The teacher sighed and looked at his attendance board before checking Chisami's name off as present. Only when she took her seat did the teacher begin doing attendance for the rest of the class.

"Psst!" Nagisa got Chisami's attention and gave her a thumbs up with a wink before handing her a note. _Smart idea_, he thought. When Chisami unravelled the note, it read 'I have a surprise' in surprisingly neat writing. Chisami shook her head and smiled at the boy._ I wonder what he's up to now?_ She thought curiously.

During class, Nagisa and Chisami occasionally passed notes back and forth to one another. Nagisa kept talking about how great the surprise was with Chisami who was left clueless about what he had done over the past few days while she had been sick. She had caught a cold while running errands, and due to her poor immune system, the cold became the flu and so Chisami was pretty bedridden for about four days. Of course, that didn't stop her from going online and keeping up with her secret hobbies.

* * *

When the bell rang signalling lunch, Nagisa jumped out of his seat and ran to a blue-haired boy, capturing him before he could leave. Nagisa loved chasing people and catching them. It made him feel like a hunter! He hunted many people and he was almost always successful with the enrapturement. He displayed his victims before his friends and other people, whether the victim was comfortable with it or not- Nagisa didn't seem to care. If he had a hard time capturing his prey, he'd try different tactics, such as using his sex appeal or guilt to get the job done. Yes, Nagisa was a great hunter, he thought.

Once Nagisa had captured his prey, the elusive and intelligent Rei Ryugazaki, he sauntered over to Chisami to show him his new display. "Chi-chan! This is Rei-chan!" Nagisa smiled sweetly and looked up at the taller boy as if to tell him to introduce himself.

"Uhm- Hello, Miss Chi-chan-san." Rei said, looking down at the shorter girl. His face flushed with embarrassment. Having Nagisa catch and drag him over didn't exactly leave the best first impression. What if the girl thought of him to be a jerk or even worse- ungraceful? Rei would hate it for someone to think he was ungraceful or not beautiful. It would be a living nightmare!

Chisami looked up at the taller boy. She evaluated him, from his lovely violet eyes to the way he stood. The boy seemed to really care about his posture and appearance. He stood still as Chisami stared at him, and when he finally greeted the girl- with two honorifics- she giggled. "Hello, Mister Rei-chan-kun." She teased him. The boy was definitely attractive, and his way of greeting her made him adorable. She knew his name, but she never really paid much attention to him until now. _What a waste_, she thought._ He's such a cutie!_

The sheepish redhead smiled dreamily. It was as if she was the only female in a harem anime- one of her long wished for scenarios. Every single male that she had met in the past week and a half seemed to be astonishingly attractive in their own way- Chisami could barely contain herself! She tried to list off the stereotypes in her head.

Tachibana Makoto was the kind and romantic sweetheart. Usually the tallest out of all the harems, and Chisami's second-favourite stereotype. Next up was Nanase Haruka who was the silent and cool type- the hardest kind of guys to romance. Next came Ryugazaki Rei. He was the intelligent-looking glasses boy! Chisami wasn't able to evaluate his personality, but if she had to guess, he'd be the tsun type- unless Nagisa happened to be tsun which seemed very unlikely. Of course, Hazuki Nagisa was up next. He was the playful and childish social butterfly! That was Chisami's favourite stereotype of all because it contrasted well with her timid personality. Lastly was the cold-hearted and misunderstood bad boy- which Chisami didn't seem to have met- so she shrugged it off. Most of her harem was present anyway- as long as she had her favourite stereotype: The Shota.

Chisami enjoyed the younger-looking, playful, social butterflies the most when she watched anime or played the occasional simulation game. The shotas that were quiet, shy and intelligent seemed off to her. While their appearances were to her taste, she didn't like it if they weren't childish and energetic. She didn't seem to care if the shotas in her games were jerks or nice, as long as they were playful. Chisami loved their sweet-looking and young appearance. She herself looked young, so Chisami thought it made sense to date a younger looking male.

Despite Chisami's love of shotas and playful men or boys, she knew her heart was Makoto's. The boy was so sweet and kind to her and he gave her comfort that no one else had really cared to give her before. She felt safe when she held hands with him, and the thought of him made her heart skip a beat.

"Chi-chan?" Nagisa waved his hand in front of the shorter girl's face to grab her attention. She had been staring dreamily off into the distance with a stupid- yet somehow adorable look on her face the entire time. "Did you fall in love with Rei-chan?" He teased the sheepish girl, expecting a cute and melodramatic reaction.

When she heard those words, she shook her head and snapped back into reality. "N-No! I was just thinking about... things." Chisami muttered nervously with a chuckled. It didn't seem too convincing somehow. When she looked up at Rei again, she looked down almost instantly when their eyes met. She felt awkward now, so much so that she was unable to make eye-contact with the poor boy.

Nagisa frowned for a moment. _She does like him, doesn't she?_ He had never seen her do anything that cute in the presence of a boy before- so he instantly assumed what he denounced to be the worst possibility of all.

Rei looked down at the girl, his face flushed as he cleared his throat. Of course, Rei's definition of cute was different from Nagisa's. He'd call this situation more awkward than anything. Being awkward wasn't cute- it wasn't beautiful- it was aesthetically displeasing; _this situation is so displeasing! _The blue-haired boy thought in a huff.

Chisami cleared her throat before trying to break the awkward silence that ensued from her daydreaming. "Shall we have lunch?" She asked, eager to get out of the situation she was in. _Thinking about harem anime- that's so stupid!_ Chisami knew that anime was taboo, so she couldn't tell them what was on her mind, making her more suspicious of liking Rei.

"Sure! Mako-chan's coming here today since Haru-chan is skipping again." Nagisa smiled and took a desk beside Chisami's seat, pushing it together. He stared at Rei and Chisami judgmentally until they did the same as him.

* * *

On the walk to Haruka's house, Chisami felt most awkward. She was with Makoto, the boy she actually liked- who Nagisa had most likely told otherwise during free period. It was so frustrating! She wanted to yell at Nagisa- but that seemed too harsh. She also just couldn't bring herself to do so because he was too cute most of the time. She hated internal conflicts. _Damn playful cuties!_

Nagisa skipped ahead. Though his demeanor looked happy, he definitely was not. The thought of Chisami liking another boy made him jealous- and the candidate was one of his friends, too! Sure, if they got together he'd be happy for them- but that didn't mean he had to like it. He sighed sadly. _No one I ever like is going to like me back..._ He thought sluggishly.

* * *

"Why aren't you eating your mackerel? Do you not like mackerel?" Haruka stared at Chisami, judging her every millisecond that he did and she was not stuffing her face with the mackerel he grilled. If mackerel wasn't someone's absolute favourite, he could live with that- but the thought of someone actually disliking it? No. That just wouldn't do.

"Oh. I'm sorry.. You went through all the trouble of cooking it for me..." Chisami smiled nervously and began picking at her mackerel. She just wasn't hungry._ Can't the idiot read a mood?_ Chisami thought crossly. Haruka's house wasn't exactly... comforting for her. Especially not after today. She liked Rei, but having a crush on him seemed too brash and Nagisa's first assumption was such.

Haruka nodded. _She doesn't hate mackerel, she's just upset. _He somewhat cared but didn't really want to bring light on the issue. If she wanted to talk about it, she'd say so. Haruka had the common decency to know not to bother someone when they were upset and didn't want to talk about it. Especially a girl. Those creatures were like complex little amoeba to other boys, but Haruka definitely understood this one, micro-organisms and all.

"Are you thinking about Rei-chan?" Nagisa teased the girl to try and make fun out of the situation. It upset him, but he didn't exactly want to be a jerk about it. Of course, Nagisa's methods weren't always the best.

Makoto stared at Chisami; whose face burned red at the mention of Rei. Whether it was out of embarrassment that Nagisa thought such a thing, or because it was true; Makoto was unable to tell. "Do you like Rei?" Makoto scratched his cheek. He was curious and wanted to know. It was the one time he'd forgotten to mind his manners when talking to Chisami- which was definitely a mistake.

"I don't like Rei-kun." Chisami muttered, her face still red. She didn't- she only thought he was attractive and that was it. Chisami believed that her heart belonged to Makoto because he was the sweetest boy she had ever met in every way. He was tall, handsome, and so kind. She smiled at herself- she wanted to tell him how she felt. Surely he felt the same way- he was so kind to her.

"Are you sure?" Nagisa pried at Chisami, wanting to get answers- which she didn't seem to be willing to give. Her mouth said one thing, but her body said another. The blond fretted over the thought of Chisami liking another boy; it just broke his heart. Chisami was so cute and sweet, and he'd never seen a girl so passionate in his life. That passion was the reason he liked her- and the same reason he admired Haruka with his whole being.

The nervous redhead picked at her mackerel to avoid Nagisa's question. When it became evident that she had no intention of answering, Nagisa asked again, causing Chisami to choke on her food. She coughed, and Nagisa patted her back to comfort and help her. However, such an event didn't throw him off. "You have to like Rei-chan. You get all flustered when we talk about him!"

"I don't like him!" Chisami snapped, her voice hoarse as she became frustrated while holding her tears back.

"Maybe you should leave her alone..." Makoto was stuck in the middle yet again, hoping for nothing to go wrong. Though he knew that asking her about Rei was the reason it kept going...

"Then who do you like?"

"Nagisa, you're annoying me-" Haruka tried to shut Nagisa up, seeing how uncomfortable the girl was getting, only to be cut off by a sentence he'd never expected Chisami to say.

"I like Makoto-kun!"

Everyone froze in silence. Chisami averted her gaze, her red face burning hotter than usual. She wanted to confess to Makoto, but not like this! "I like... Makoto-kun..." She repeated, her voice hoarse as she held back tears.

"Chi-chan..." Makoto was shocked. He didn't know what to say. He really wasn't expecting Chisami to have a crush on him out of everyone else she knew in their group of friends. He knew that Haruka was a popular choice amongst the girls at Iwatobi, so he expected Chisami to like Haruka the most out of everyone. But himself? No, Makoto never saw that coming...

"Hey, hey. Haru-chan... I think we need to make another pot of tea." Nagisa said as he forced a smile and headed into the kitchen. His heart felt like it was breaking into tiny little pieces. He really liked Chisami- and sure, he wasn't the best at expressing it- but he still liked her all the same. I screwed up, didn't I? He thought sadly to himself as he found a corner far away enough from the living room so that he didn't have to see anything he didn't want to.

"Ah- yeah." Haruka picked his plate of mackerel up and brought it into the kitchen as he followed Nagisa. _Today sure is eventful_, he thought. _Such a hassle_. He sighed when he and Nagisa reached the corner of the kitchen furthest away from the living room.

"You think he'll return her feelings?" Haruka asked, turning to face Nagisa. He had to admit that any guy would be a little strange if he turned Chisami down.

Sure; Haruka found Chisami more annoying than a mosquito, but he knew she was a decent catch when it came to the romance department. The girl was sweet and kind, and she seemed to be easygoing; she had a tendency to get along with those around her. She knew how to cook, was relatively selfless and definitely wasn't ugly. Of course, Haruka wouldn't date her himself- he didn't see her that way; or maybe he just couldn't. Haruka just understood that Chisami was sure to be popular amongst quite a few guys at Iwatobi- but those guys would only be successful if they weren't looking for sex, Haruka thought.

Nagisa sighed and sank to the floor, landing in an uncomfortable squatting position. "I hope not." The blond muttered, glancing at the doorway to the living room every moment or so, hoping- just hoping- that Chisami would run out into the kitchen sobbing._ I'm such a horrible person_. Nagisa thought. Only a horrible person would wish for something bad to happen to someone they cared about.

The black haired boy sank to the floor with the blond, only he sat instead of squatted. He looked at Nagisa before averting his gaze. The boy was clearly upset about the recent series of events. Haruka wasn't an idiot, he knew just what was going on. "A love triangle, huh? Heh." Haruka looked up at the blond boy and wrapped his arm around his neck, pulling him close. It was rare he'd do anything like this, but he knew it was the only way to cheer Nagisa up. Nagisa was one of those people who needed some sort of physical communication to make him feel better- such as a hug or friendly gesture like Haruka was doing.

"Yeah." Nagisa muttered, taking a proper seat on the floor and leaning into Haruka. Just nuzzling Haruka's shoulder made him feel a little better. "I like her." Nagisa smiled bitterly and turned to his dark-haired friend.

He actually had hope in a possible relationship blooming between himself and Chisami. Chisami was very lenient and went along with whatever he did without complaining often or sometimes even at all. She was pretty and gentle, and very passionate about the few things she did enjoy.

"I expected as much." Haruka sighed and placed his plate of mackerel on the floor. All of the drama was making him lose his appetite. "Would you still be friends with Makoto if he accepted her feelings?"

Nagisa's eyes widened- how could Haruka even ask him such a thing? "Of course I would! Mako-chan's been my friend since we were in elementary school! Even if Chi-chan and him start dating, I wouldn't hate him or not want to be friends with him anymore." The blond found himself trembling as he spoke. "She's not the first girl to not like me back you know, Haru-chan." The blond turned to Haruka, baring a bitter smile that faded within a moment. It'd take him a while to get over it like with the others.

"Nagisa..." Haruka mumbled the younger boy's name before wrapping his arms around him in a gentle embrace.

* * *

"You... like me...?" Makoto stared at Chisami as if she was insane. His face was burning as he thought about dating the younger girl. He'd never considered Chisami that way before. To him, Chisami was like a little sister- like Ran. "I..." He swallowed and remembered a chat that he'd had with Nagisa just a few days before.

_"That passion. When I heard her playing I could only see her and no one else. She was so beautiful."Nagisa's eyes sparkled as he spoke to Makoto. He then took a drink of his smoothie through a straw._

_ "I don't think I've ever heard you say that about a girl before."The brunette chuckled and followed suit before stretching._

_ "Well, Chi-chan's not the first girl I've liked, but I hope I can ask her out on a date some time!"_

Makoto remembered when Nagisa had confided in him about his feelings towards Chisami. What kind of friend would Makoto be if he dated a girl that he knew his friend liked? He would have given Chisami a chance if the circumstances were normal- but they weren't. Makoto knew that if the relationship didn't work out, the friendship would be ruined between him and Nagisa as well as the one between him and Chisami. Makoto didn't want to take that risk. He knew he didn't like Chisami that way for sure anyway, so giving her a chance to see if he might wasn't worth losing either of his friends in the long run. If he turned her down now, they could still be friends.

"I-I'm sorry my confession ended up like this, Makoto-kun." Chisami bit her lip. "I really wanted to do the traditional confession- where I ask you to meet me in a classroom after school... But I guess I waited too long." She scratched the back of her head. The poor girl felt more awkward than ever. _Stupid Nagisa- if he hadn't pried into my business like the dumb brat he is, everything would have went smoothly,_ Chisami thought angrily.

"I'm sorry too, actually." Makoto smiled, his eyes filled with remorse, giving the sweet smile a bitter after-effect.

"I can't accept your feelings."

* * *

_Okay! Another chapter all edited and ready to go~!  
__Please send me your reviews and whatnot! I hope you enjoy this chapter because I love tormenting my babies like this. Sorry, sorry. QwQ_


	6. The Butterfly Flutters

Chisami walked sluggishly into the classroom that morning. She was exhausted. _Stupid Nagisa. Stupid crush. Stupid feelings. Stupid, stupid, stupid! _She was definitely not in a good mood after what happened the day before. To think that her feelings would be brought out so suddenly and then shortly after, be humiliated!

The redhead could handle being rejected- sure! But having Haruka and Nagisa- and probably even Rei and Kou knowing about her being rejected? No! That was too much- and she felt humiliated. If she had confessed to Makoto in private and he had rejected her- Makoto would have the common sense not to go around telling everyone about it.

Chisami took a seat at her desk. She could feel another wave of tears coming on and she wiped away at them- peeling the band-aid that was on her cheek off as she did so. She had forgotten about it- but tracing her fingers over where the scratch from the cat was previously, she realized she no longer had need for the bacteria-infested little piece of tape and cotton.

"Hi, Chi-chan!" Chisami flinched from the familiar voice- then quickly became infuriated. "I was wondering how you were doin-"

"Hush!" Chisami growled at the blond boy and tried to calm down before speaking to him. She didn't want more rumors about her being a horrible bitch spreading around the school. _Calm down, Chisami. He's just asking how you're doing- you can do this._ The girl coaxed herself into breathing normally and glanced up at the boy with a forced and snarky smile.

"Fwah!" Nagisa covered his eyes at the sight of Chisami- the dark circles around her eyes were worse than the day before! The whites of her eyes were pink- making her sapphire irises stand out, giving her a demonic appearance. Her hair was even messier than usual- making her look a little like a slob- and her face had red blotches on it from crying. He'd never witnessed Chisami looking so ugly before. "What happened to your face?!"

Chisami scowled at the boy before rolling her eyes and looking away. "You did." She snarled, then felt worry brewing up in her chest. _Oh God, he pointed it out before, too! Do I really look ugly!? _Chisami couldn't help but pull her compact mirror out of her school bag to check out her appearance. When she finally laid eyes on the reflection- she felt like fainting. "O-Oh no!"

Nagisa watched as the girl who was previously angry with him became worried about her appearance. _She should have looked in a mirror before leaving_. He thought, averting his gaze from what he presumed to be 'ogre Chisami'. He didn't think she normally needed make-up, but seeing her now somewhat startled him and he decided that maybe a little make up wouldn't hurt right now.

Rei approached Nagisa and Chisami- curious about what they were talking about. Then he witnessed it- _she's applying make-up? _He felt a little weird intruding, seeing as applying make up was a thing that girls tended to do privately or in a restroom. He felt it was the equivalent of watching her strip and that made him feel awkward.

"Done!" Chisami said, smiling at herself in the mirror. She couldn't eliminate her red or puffy eyes, but she made the dark circles disappear- along with the red blotches on her cheeks. She had applied foundation, powder to set the foundation, mascara, eyeliner, and pink lipgloss. She didn't normally cake on makeup, but at least she looked better. Wearing makeup made her feel more confident anyway.

"Wow! Pretty!" Nagisa exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "You did that pretty quickly." He commented since he assumed most girls took at least an hour to put on makeup.

_Damn right, I'm pretty_. Chisami thought with a smirk. "It's not rocket science." she muttered, putting away her supplies before pulling out her glasses. She normally had a hard time seeing faraway- so she never wore them since she never needed to focus on things further away. Today they wouldn't hurt, though. She put the rectangular, pink-framed glasses on and blinked. The frame of her glasses would conceal the puffiness in her eyes. Lastly, she pulled out a hair brush and brushed her hair until it wasn't so horrible anymore.

Rei nodded as he examined Chisami. She definitely looked pretty with makeup on. He was a little curious to see why she had hurried to put it on though. Before he could ask, the teacher cut him off. "Take your seats. Class is beginning."

* * *

"Are you going to eat lunch with us, Chi-chan?" Nagisa asked, holding onto Rei's hand. He had intended to head up to the roof where Makoto- and hopefully Haruka would be. Though it was unlikely that Haruka would be at school if they were unable to swim. It had gotten cooler again and they'd have to wait until May to even think of jumping into the pool again.

Chisami shook her head. She had not forgotten what Nagisa did to her- he humiliated her! She may have forgotten about it to worry about her appearance in the morning; but not now. "I'm going to the music room to eat." Chisami said as if to rub it in the boy's face. She knew how clingy the boy was, so being refused something would definitely- "Huh?"

While the foolish redhead was lost in thought, Nagisa had begun dragging her away and to the stairs that lead to the roof without her consent. "Hey!" She shouted, pulling her hand free of his. "I said I was going to go eat in the music room!" She huffed, her cheeks tinted red as she puffed her cheeks angrily at the boy, her brow furrowed.

"But we're talking about how we're going to teach Rei-chan how to swim and you should be there too!" Nagisa frowned.

"Teach him how to-...?" Chisami glared at the boy ferociously like a hungry polar bear. "You're telling me he can't swim?!" She roared at Nagisa- her patience completely lost. She didn't care what others thought of her anymore- she was furious! "Not only did you **humiliate** me yesterday- but you planned on replacing my spot as a competitive swimmer in the club with a buffoon who can't even swim?!" Chisami stomped her feet in a huff and shouted, "You stupid jerk! I wish I never even met you!" She screamed at Nagisa, spit flying in a frenzied rage.

Nagisa's whole body went pale when Chisami snapped- he was at a loss for-... he couldn't speak. He was too shocked at Chisami's angry outburst to even grant his throat muscles the ability to move. Nagisa shook his head and stuttered as he tried to speak. _I can't believe I screwed up again! _he thought, angry with himself, down about the situation altogether.

Rei stared at Chisami. _She isn't always like this, is she?_ He swallowed and cleared his throat, placing his hand on Chisami's petite shoulder. "Chisami-san, I apologize. I would have never agreed to join if I had known they had another competitive swimmer. I only joined because I thought otherwise." He tried to reassure the girl- or at least confirm that he wasn't on her bad side. She seemed scary when she was angry.

Chisami trembled as she looked up at Rei, her eyes filling with tears again. They tasted as bitter as the situation she was in right now. _Stupid jerks- they're all stupid jerks! To think I even thought of being their friends!_ Chisami choked on a sob and broke down as the tears streamed down her face- her whole body shaking with each sob.

"Chi-chan-!" Nagisa shouted and reached out for the girl as she darted down the hallway. _Sh-she didn't mean what she said... did she? _Chisami trembled and looked to the ground before attempting to run after her- only to be stopped by Rei. "Rei-chan?" Nagisa questioned the boy as he held back tears.

"I'll go find her." Rei sighed. "She probably doesn't want to see you right now." The blue-haired boy smiled sweetly and gestured towards the stairs that lead to the roof. "You go talk to Makoto-kun and Haruka-senpai." He nodded his head, feeling reassured before running off down the hall where Chisami had darted down.

Nagisa watched as his new friend chased after the girl he so desperately liked. He shook the tears from his eyes and forced a smile that just about anyone who wasn't psychic would believe. "I'm sorry, Chi-chan..." He muttered before running up the stairs to meet with Makoto and Haruka.

* * *

Rei searched for Chisami, looking in every direction possible as he raced down the halls- until he saw her running down an empty corridor. _What a great day,_ he thought sarcastically. He didn't really want to chase after Chisami, but he felt he owed it to Nagisa for introducing him to a beautiful new sport. It was the least he could do- and Rei had a vibe that Nagisa cared about the girl quite a bit.

When Rei reached the end of the corridor, he stopped. The next area was off bounds to students and he didn't think Chisami would break the rule and risk a detention- she seemed like a decent student. When he heard her sniffle, he knew just where to look. Beneath the marble staircase.

"Chisami-san?" He said her name causing her to hold back her sobs as she froze. When he kneeled down to look under the staircase, he saw Chisami huddled up against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest. He could see up her skirt if he wanted to do so- but decided against it for that would be a violation of privacy. The expression on her face was that of a deer caught in the headlights of a car. She averted her gaze when she noticed that the boy who had followed her was Rei.

"I-I'm sorry." She muttered, feeling bad for her outburst- and for calling him a buffoon. She wasn't mad at Rei afterall. Chisami was mad at Nagisa, so she'd try to keep reminding herself that. Still, she didn't appreciate Rei chasing after her and seeing her in such a state- all that makeup gone to waste!

"You should be." Rei said, crawling under the staircase with the girl. It was surprisingly clean- but he still didn't enjoy it. Awkwardly, he took a seat beside Chisami and stared ahead. "Anyway, uhm." He put his arm around Chisami, who flinched. It was the only thing he could think of to comfort her- he hadn't studied how to comfort a girl before, seeing as he never needed to.

"I don't need your pity..." Chisami mumbled as she got comfortable- only to revert back to her position from before. She wanted to cuddle- it'd make her feel better, but she didn't want it to be so openly obvious. It also meant she wanted his pity- which she did, but also didn't want to be so obvious about.

Rei chuckled. He didn't plan on giving Chisami any pity, he just intended to comfort her- which he didn't really know how to do. "I have no idea what I'm doing." He mumbled reluctantly. It was all he could do or say at the moment without being more awkward than he already was.

"Then why'd you come here?" Chisami asked, puffing her cheeks with a sniffle. She gave in and rested her head on Rei's shoulder before clutching the jacket of his uniform. Rei cringed- his jacket was going to be wrinkled after this! And her tears- if she cried onto his jacket, it'd have salt stains- or even worse- snot!

Rei cleared his throat, "D-Don't cry on my jacket." He muttered.

"Huh?" Chisami looked up at Rei and smiled- he was so awkward! "Why not?" She asked with a slight giggle. Rei stared at the girl as if she were some alien. _This is helping?_ He asked himself before replying.

"It's gross." he said flatly, which brought out a giggle from Chisami. When he heard her sweet and heartwarming, but nasally giggle, he couldn't help but smirk a little. He was getting the hang of this thing already! Now he could attempt to diagnose the situation. "So, uhm. I'm guessing you're not too happy about me joining the club?" He asked, causing Chisami's brows to furrow with annoyance.

"Nuh-uh!" She responded with a childish air to her. "It means they don't need me anymore- and I'll just be a useless member. I might as well quit and go my own way." Chisami muttered, feeling sorry for herself as she spoke.

"That's not true." Rei said. He could think of different things Chisami could do to feel useful around the club. "What do you like to do?" He asked, this way he could give her a list of things she could possibly do to help while avoiding giving her a list of things that were uninteresting to her.

Chisami pondered the thought and came up with an answer- disregarding her closet hobbies. "I like to cook- and swim- and sing, and learn new things." She listed her non-secretive hobbies off like a child who was picking candy at a candy store.

"What about making snacks for club practices? Or being a back-up swimmer?" Rei smiled and turned to Chisami to see what she thought of it.

"Kou-chan makes snacks for club practices- so I can't do that. But being a back-up swimmer sounds boring. I don't learn anything cool while doing that." Chisami complained as if to find any little thing wrong with anything Rei was saying.

"Then make lunch for the club members. I'm sure they'd appreciate it. And there are different strokes that competitive swimmers know. Surely you don't know how to do all of them." Rei chuckled, glad to know that the tension was being lifted.

"I-I guess... But I'd need everyone to help me out with the lunches- I'd have to buy supplies every night." Chisami tilted her head and thought about the backup swimmer proposal. Rei was right. Chisami didn't know every stroke for competitive swimming- she only knew the breaststroke, and the backstroke which she was less than adept at. She could use the opportunity to learn each stroke and perfect them to her best ability. "Alright."

Chisami smiled sheepishly at Rei. "See? You can still be a useful member. You're more useful than me anyway." Rei took a jab at himself to cheer Chisami up- though it hurt, just like a knife to the gut. "And I'm sure everyone would be glad to help you with supplies."

"Thank you, Rei-kun." Chisami giggled as she nuzzled the boy's arm lovingly. "I like you, you're very sweet. But- I'm still mad at Nagisa-kun..." She mumbled. "It'll take me awhile to forgive him."

"I understand." Rei smiled and crawled out from under the staircase- which he was very desperate to do so!

When the two were out from under the staircase, Chisami hugged the tall boy happily. "You're really great, Rei-kun." Chisami giggled and looked up at him with a newfound happy grin.

"Thanks." Rei blushed as Chisami took his hand and lead him down the corridor. He didn't fancy being dragged along, but he was glad to have made Chisami feel better.

* * *

_Yay~! I'm throwing chapters at you guys relatively quickly cause while I was unable to update freely, I actually wrote quite a few chapters... So here they are!_

_This one was edited by my lovely uguuu of a friend, HMOrange216! Thank you so much!_

_Anyway, Chisami kinda snaps in this chapter. But I assure you, she's really not the sweet girl she plays out to be~! Please R&R! And thank you for every Review you throw at me!_


	7. Hook, Line, and Sinker

Her feet dragged as she walked, the scuffing sounds making it as clear as the day was long. She stumbled from side to side, the extra weight on her back making it so much easier to sway back and forth with each step. She felt like lead as she walked, and the throbbing in her head- goodness, it made each footstep sound like Godzilla's.

"Just a little... more." She mumbled to herself, seeing the school gate up ahead. _Why did I have to stay up playing my otome game? _She asked herself, feeling more foolish than ever.

Chisami had only gotten an hour of sleep- and her horrible sleeping habits the past few days along with her horrible flu and her crying the night before definitely made an impact- and it was heavy. Not only did she stay up late making food for the boys' lunches, she thought it'd be fun to stay up and have some of her own time finishing a path for the otome game she was playing while eating snacks that kept her hyped up until it was over.

She was so irresponsible when it came to her own health, and with her horrible immune system, she was lucky to even be at school long enough to ace a test. It definitely explained her C average in classes that Chisami struggled with, such as English and Art and worst of all, Japanese History.

"Are you alright, Chi-chan?" Makoto asked, holding onto Chisami's shoulder as she struggled to stand upright. "If you're sick, you shouldn't be coming to school."

"I'm fine..." Chisami sighed, yawning right afterwards. She looked even worse than she did the day before. The dark circles around her eyes were so evident that they made her eyes look hollow- and she looked so much more frail than usual. Her small, aching bones definitely made her look as if she was struggling to even move an inch- which she was. Chisami's appearance was not far off from the Grim Reaper's.

"Such a hassle." Haruka sighed annoyedly and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, Nagisa's magenta eyes were staring into his. The dark-haired boy didn't dare flinch, though. He was much too used to Nagisa's behaviour by now.

"Hi, Haru-chan!" Nagisa chuckled and turned to Chisami. "Ah, Chi-chan sorry for yesterda-" He froze when the girl looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes, giving him the grimmest stare she'd ever had placed upon him. "Wow, you look horrible!" He exclaimed, shuddering at the girl's appearance. It seemed she was getting uglier day by day.

Chisami giggled, throwing Nagisa off. He was expecting her to insult him back. She stood up and rolled her shoulders before opening her mouth to speak, only to have another fit of laughter blurt out forth. "Naaaaagiiiiiiisssssaaaaa-kuuuuun!" Chisami shouted, her voice a high-pitched frequency by the last syllable.

The three boys blinked and looked at eachother before bringing attention to Chisami's strange behaviour. "She's broken." Haruka muttered under his breath.

* * *

"You're too cute!" Chisami pinched at Nagisa's cheeks and giggled when she saw how awkward he looked. "Poof! Aaahaahaha!" She said, releasing Nagisa's cheek fat before she covered her mouth and closed her eyes. "Mmmmmm- Muah!" She blew the blond a happy kiss before a giggle-fit approached.

Rei cleared his throat as he stared at Chisami, who was getting quite a bit of attention with her strange attitude. "I think she's sleep-deprived." He concluded as he caught sight of Chisami's dark circles and tired eyes.

"Noooo!" Chisami squealed, grabbing onto Rei's arm dramatically and throwing him slightly off balance. "Mr. Caterpillar, you're lying! The bubbles are telling me!" She pulled away from Rei and twirled before leaning into Nagisa. Rei, for the life of him, could not understand why he was the caterpillar in her hallucination.

"I think I see where you're getting at." Nagisa chuckled as he scratched his cheek. A shiver went up his spine when Chisami pressed her lips against his neck. "Wha?!" He winced when her tongue trailed along his delicate skin- _what is she doing?!_ The boy would normally feel as though he were in heaven- but this was so sudden! "Chi-chan?!" He tried to pry her away from him, but she clung to him as tightly as possible.

"Mmm..." Chisami mumbled as she licked the boy's neck- then she sunk her teeth into his soft flesh, causing him to shriek in shock.

**"AWAAAAHH!"**

* * *

_Ring! Ring!_

Chisami's eyes fluttered open just as the lunch bell rang. She sat up and looked around, curious as to why she was lying down- she was at school for goodness sake! "Hm?" She noticed that the bed next to her just about three feet away had another sleeping student in it. When the body turned to get more comfortable- she recognized the curly blond hair, lovely light skin, and the happy smile as he clung to- her backpack?- it was indeed, Hazuki Nagisa.

She was still mad at him for the other day- but she had no idea why on earth he would be- ... Chisami froze when she noticed a purple circle on the right side of the boy's neck. It all rained down on her like a meteor shower. She remembered why it was there- and how she was all friendly- and how she had called Rei a caterpillar! She gave poor Nagisa a hickey- and she wasn't even fully conscious to remember what it was like- hell, she was surprised she was even able to give him one!

Cautiously, Chisami kicked her feet over the edge of the medical bed and tiptoed over to Nagisa to grab her backpack that held all of the club's lunches in it. When she grabbed hold of the bag, Nagisa's eyes opened as if he had been on alert the entire time.

"Chi-chan, you're awake!" He chuckled and rubbed his sleepy eyes before sitting up, keeping the bag clutched tightly in his arms. "Rei-chan said you were sleep deprived- and when we dropped you off here, you just looked so peaceful that I felt like napping too!" He smiled happily and yawned before standing up.

"I wanted to say sorry for the other day- really!" Nagisa changed the subject quickly so he could get the apology over and done with. He hated feeling guilty. "I shouldn't have teased you about Rei-chan..." he trailed off, remembering how jealous he was over Chisami liking another boy. He still liked her- and hopefully he would be more careful around her from now on.

Chisami's face flushed and she averted her gaze. She couldn't take her eyes off of Nagisa's hickey as she spoke. It looked so out of place on him! The redhead sighed before turning her attention to Nagisa's face- instead of the purple spot on his neck. "Your apology is accepted." She said flatly before adding, "But I'm still mad at you for what you did. You owe me."

"What? Letting you give me this thing wasn't enough for you?" Nagisa stuck his tongue out with a wink as he pulled at his collar to show off the purple flesh.

"Shut up." Chisami muttered before taking her backpack. When she reminded herself what was in the bag, she became flustered. She had Nagisa's lunch in there as well- not that he deserved any of her cooking. If she gave him food, he'd think she was over being mad at him.

The blond chuckled and hugged the girl. He loved tsunderes! Just not the violent ones- those girls actually scared him. "Let's just go eat lunch with everyone." He smiled and took Chisami's free hand, to which she grumbled at. He didn't care, though. He was glad that Chisami didn't hate him- and that was all that mattered.

_Stupid shota_. Chisami thought angrily with a flip of her chin-length hair.

* * *

"Huh?" Makoto stared at Chisami with concerned eyes. He was glad Chisami didn't look as sickly as she did earlier that morning. Her dark circles were somewhat dissipated and she looked a little more lively. And what's more is that he even had his answer as to why she was so sluggish and goofy that morning. "You made lunch for all of us?" He swallowed when he stared at the lime green bento.

"Y-Yes! Rei-kun said that I could find something else to make me feel useful to the club, so I... I stayed up late making everyone's lunches." Chisami's face flushed as she pulled out different bentos, each box coloured differently corresponding to which boy the meal belonged to.

"You felt useless?" Makoto frowned, hesitant to open the bento. He didn't want to seem greedy since he had already opened his other one. "Why?"

"Because you replaced my spot on the team with Rei-kun." She muttered, handing the purple bento to Haruka and the blue one to Rei. She hid Nagisa's in the bag- she didn't want to satisfy him. Besides, he already brought his own lunch. "I'm going to make everyone's lunches from now on and... I need help after school with the errands if you don't mind?"

"Too much effort." Haruka muttered, eating his single grilled mackerel. He _did _want the bento box that Chisami prepared for him, though. A single grilled mackerel definitely wasn't enough to satisfy his hunger. He sighed. Sure, walking with Chisami meant he had to spend more time with her- but it also meant he was able to eat a hearty lunch every day- and that bento box wasn't small in the slightest. "On second thought, I'm alright with that." Walking along with Chisami and carrying her groceries home for her definitely was a great trade off for a delicious lunch.

A grin filled Chisami's face- until Nagisa spoke up. "Hey, you made bentos for everyone else but not me?" Nagisa frowned, ignoring his own bento made by himself the night before and sighed sadly. _She didn't forget about me, did she?_

"W-Well." Chisami stuttered when everyone looked at her. No one had opened their bentos yet- and if she didn't give Nagisa his, her blood, sweat, and tears were sure to go to waste. She sighed in defeat before digging into her backpack to fish out the pink bento she had prepared for Nagisa. "I wasn't going to give it to you as payback- but here." She muttered.

Nagisa didn't wait- he opened the bento happily and marvelled at what he saw inside- it smelled and looked amazing! "Wow!" His starry eyes took note of everything that Chisami had made for him. She had grilled steak and trimmed the meat from the bones, cutting it into little strips. There was potato salad and onigiri, rabbit-shaped apple slices, and lastly- a heart-shaped bowl filled with a sweet dipping-sauce for the steak. "It looks amazing, Chi-chan!"

The blond happily dug into his meal- the steak was grilled to a perfect medium-well, and the onigiri was sweetened to his tastes. Chisami really knew her way around the kitchen. "And it tastes great!" he chuckled as he hungrily dug in, ignoring the pieces of rice and sauce on his face.

"You're so messy." Chisami stared at the boy and pulled out a napkin. The next thing she did was by pure instinct- but she dabbed at the boy's face with the napkin gently to clean the mess on his face. "There." She smiled when Nagisa's face was cleaned- then her face became hot. "S-Sorry..." She stuttered and turned to the other club members who were digging into their bentos as well. Nagisa just smiled at Chisami. He knew she was warming up to him again.

"What is this?" Rei asked, examining the baked meat on the end of his chopsticks. He had never tried it before, but it tasted pretty good. He was unsure of whether it was pork or chicken- but it didn't really taste like either.

"Lamb." Chisami smiled before explaining. "My mom likes stocking up on new foods. She likes to try different things, and I thought the lamb would be good for you- since you seem to like fancy things..." Chisami blushed- she pretty much admitted to thinking Rei was refined and exquisite, which seemed to put a smile on his face.

"It's delicious. Thank you." He happily dug in, savouring the flavours of each morsel.

"Yes, it's really good, Chi-chan." Makoto added, enjoying his fried squid with lemon sauce.

"Very nice." Haruka smiled slightly as he ate his grilled mackerel. He missed having home-cooked meals like this.

Chisami giggled at everyone's compliments- she had never felt so proud of her cooking before. She'd just have to remember not to deprive herself of sleep. She could always catch up on her otome games or marathon her animes when she was home sick or didn't have anything else to do. For now, cooking and shopping would be her main priority.

"Nagisa, what happened to your neck?" Makoto looked at Nagisa, commenting on the purple love-bite. He wasn't sure what it was, but he had a bit of an idea.

"Oh, well Chi-chan kind of..."

"Just shut up and eat, Nagisa-kun! Geez!" Chisami's face flushed as she scolded the boy. "And look, you've made a mess again!"

Makoto watched as Nagisa teased Chisami while she dabbed at his face with the napkin. A gentle smile filled his face. Everything seemed to be back to normal- no one was arguing, and everyone seemed to be genuinely having fun. Even though the past few days had been stressful for everyone- especially Chisami, she seemed to be goofing around with Nagisa just like their first day meeting. Everyone was happy. And that was how Makoto liked things to be.

_I hope everyday continues like this forever..._ He thought to himself.

* * *

_So yeah. I added a sexual innuendo because I'm that kind of chick. Aren't you happy that I am? /shot_

_Anyway, my little uguu of a babu, Nagisa is being given a bit of a break. Maybe. You'll have to wait and see. Thank you for reading and reviewing! It means so much to me! I love you all, my lovely babus!_


	8. And So It Begins

"Yay! I win!" Nagisa jumped up and down, clutching the shortest straw in his hand. He had actually lost the game, but in his eyes, he had won. The boys were drawing straws to see who would go with Chisami on her errands that day and the agreement was that the one who picked the shortest straw would accompany her.

Secretly, Rei had wanted to go with her to spend some time with his new friend. He had found out she had an interest in video games and although he pretended they were a waste of time, he wanted to see what her collection was. Nonetheless, he had gotten the longest straw and Nagisa had the shortest. He knew that Nagisa enjoyed being around Chisami, too, so any chance of Nagisa giving up the opportunity was null.

* * *

"Rockhopping bread would be a good dessert if you don't wanna make strawberry shortcake. Oh! Or chocolate chip cookies. No! Chocolate chunks!" Chisami listened to Nagisa as he listed off different ideas for lunch. He had proposed making dessert for everyone's lunches- which wasn't a completely horrible idea- if only Chisami knew what kind of sweets they did and didn't like or if they liked sweets at all.

The two walked casually down the market street where they had different stores on either side of the street. It was the only street that cars weren't permitted to drive on because a lot of people often just took the opportunity to walk.

As they walked, Chisami caught notice of a pet store. She always had her mother stop by there when she was a little girl, so why not keep the tradition up with Nagisa? Chisami left the boy's side and eagerly walked up to the glass window of the pet store.

"Maybe dangos? Or even sweet potato- Hm?" Nagisa paused when he noticed Chisami wasn't with him anymore. He looked around and caught sight of her blue dress. Walking up to the girl, he gazed into the window of the pet store and smiled. "Let's go in." He suggested, to which Chisami smiled happily at before trotting into the store.

It was your typical pet store- there were pet supplies on shelves and on walls- as well as cages holding rodents and others holding dogs or cats. "Oooh!" Chisami giggled and caught sight of a cute little cocker spaniel puppy in the window. When one of the staff members approached her, she straightened her posture and asked maturely- "May I please hold it?" She tilted her head down and looked up from her long, and very noticeable eyelashes, trying to put on a show of being cute.

"Of course." The large, bearded man said with a smile before opening the cage door to the little cocker spaniel. It's ears were long and fluffy and coloured a dark, chocolatey brown. The coat of the adorable little puppy was curly and thick and irresistibly soft to the touch. Chisami giggled when the puppy was put in her arms.

"A-Aren't you allergic, Chi-chan?" Nagisa braced himself for Chisami's horrible allergies in which she'd break out into hives and her eyes would get swollen.

"I'm allergic to cats, Nagisa-kun. But I still like them." Chisami said as she scratched the little puppy behind the ears. It responded by licking her hand with it's flat, pink toungue. Chisami could smell it's puppy breath- and though it was a smell she detested, it was better than a grown dog's breath any day. "Oh, who's a cute little baby?" Chisami went into baby-talk mode. She loved little animals! "Would you like to hold her?" Chisami asked, handing the puppy to Nagisa.

He eagerly nodded and took hold of the small puppy which licked his chin and eventually his cheek. He was a little nervous around baby animals, but he still loved them all the same. "She's so soft." he chuckled and nozzled the puppy's head. "I'd take her home, but my parents would tell me to bring her back." He joked as he handed the puppy back to the staff member. He and Chisami still had errands to do afterall.

Chisami and Nagisa thanked the staff worker who actually seemed to be the owner of the store as they left.

"How come you don't have a pet, Chi-chan?" Nagisa asked with a tilt of his head that made his blond curls bounce. If Chisami loved animals so much, then surely her parents would allow her to have one- they seemed so lenient with her. Actually, now that he thought about it- Chisami had never mentioned having a father before. She only ever spoke of her mom. "Oh, and why do you never talk about your dad?" He added.

Chisami sighed. "My mom is rarely home, and I have school- so it'd be hard to train a pet. I don't want to neglect the poor thing." She chuckled before pondering how to explain the situation with her father. She didn't know anything about him- she just knew that she never had a father.

"I only have my mom. I've never had a dad as far as I know." She said, sounding deep in thought. She was always curious about him but had never asked her mother about her father. "Maybe he was a sperm donor. Or maybe he was just a deadbeat and left my mom when she got pregnant with me. She only had me when she was fifteen." Chisami shrugged her shoulders. She had thought of many different possibilities as to why she didn't have a father, but she didn't want to ask which one of those reasons were true. She was afraid it might hurt her mother, so she always kept her mouth shut about the topic.

Nagisa frowned. He much preferred if Chisami's father was a sperm donor. To hear that she was abandoned made his chest ache. He didn't like that possibility at all. "I guess it doesn't matter why you don't have a father. You're happy with just your mom, right?" He said with a smile. Chisami nodded. "Then that's all that matters." He chuckled before hugging the shorter girl. She hesitated, but her arms wrapped around him just as tightly as his were around her.

_He really isn't that bad of a guy, I guess._ She thought to herself. Chisami could feel her heart skip a beat when they pulled from the hug. Her sapphire eyes met Nagisa's magenta ones for just a moment as they shared a sweet smile together. "Thank you, Nagisa-kun." She turned away and looked at the ground, smiling to herself as she did so.

* * *

Chisami sighed as she sat on the couch, her legs feeling like lead from walking and standing all day. She really needed to get into shape- hopefully swimming would help her out in that regard when she was finally able to swim. She longed to be able to hear the movement of the water as she floated atop it- to feel the refreshing, cool wetness as she glided through it.

With a sigh of his own, Nagisa joined the girl on her couch and flicked on the television. Nagisa couldn't help but cuddle up to Chisami on the couch, so he put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into him.

Chisami froze- Nagisa was... cuddling with her? She blinked when she realized the situation, and something in her caused her to throw her legs over his so that she was almost nearly sitting on his lap. Don't tell me... She shook the thought and pushed herself away from Nagisa. "W-What are you doing?!" She asked, her face flushed. The only time she had ever cuddled with a boy was when she was upset- did he think she was upset?!

"Hm? You don't like cuddling?" Nagisa blinked and tilted his head, his face filled with playful curiosity. His wide eyes were so beautiful and full of life. Chisami blushed and shook her head.

"I-I'm not upset! So don't cuddle me! I'm not upset!" Chisami blurted as she crossed her arms. The situation was frustrating! Nagisa blinked at the girl's strange assumption and held his hands up before shaking his head.

"No! People cuddle when they're not upset. I didn't think you were upset!" Nagisa hurried to try and calm the girl down before she actually did get upset- he didn't want to see her cry again. He hated it when any girls cried! that meant he failed them as a man. And Nagisa liked to think of himself as a manly man- who still managed to be cute. It meant he had twice the sex appeal.

Chisami stared at Nagisa, wide-eyed. She was confused. She'd never cuddled with anyone but her mother when she wasn't upset. "U-Uhm." The redhead scratched her cheek before turning to the television that was playing- a run of Madoka Magica?! Chisami had accidentally left her anime channel on! She quickly grabbed the remote and switched the channel so that Nagisa didn't notice what was on. That was a closet hobby and no one was allowed to know about it!

Nagisa blinked and took the remote back from Chisami, pressing the 'last channel' button to see what she was so worried about. He smiled when he saw the dark and strange opening that displayed a cute magical girl with long, purple hair. "Oh! I heard of this- do you like anime, Chi-chan?" Nagisa asked, feeling enthusiastic.

"Uhm... W-Well." She didn't want to lie to the boy- she'd never really lied before.

"I think it's cute! I like this kind of stuff too." Nagisa chuckled and turned the volume up. He'd never really watched Madoka Magica, mainly because the magical girl genre wasn't one he really watched- not that he thought it was a bad genre, he just never really saw any he had interest in. Either way, he had heard good things about Madoka Magica and if Chisami wanted to watch it, then he might as well join her.

"R-Really? This is one of my favourites!" Chisami giggled and turned her attention to the television. It seemed they were just starting the marathon of Madoka Magica, and they had only missed the first two minutes of the first episode, too! "We can watch it together, right?" She asked sheepishly.

Chisami was happy that Nagisa wasn't weirded out by her hobby. A lot of other people at school would have called her an otaku and avoided her. It was looked down upon for people to like anime and dating simulation games. Those people were otakus, perverts, or geeks amongst the rest of the Japanese population. What made it worse for Chisami was that she wasn't very good in the grades department of a lot of her classes at school. She was just glad that her mother didn't pressure her to do things like a lot of the other children's' parents did.

"Of course!" Nagisa chuckled and wrapped his arm around Chisami's shoulder again. "As long as I can cuddle!" He teased Chisami, but when she rested her head against his chest and kicked her legs back over his, he was a little thrown off- but happy. He knew she'd give in eventually.

Looking down at the shorter girl as she watched her show, he felt melancholic. _Do I tell her I like her? What if she doesn't like me that way and just wants to be friends?_ Nagisa still had a huge crush on the girl, though he was at the point where he could act more relaxed around her and less of a show-off. _No, she's probably still getting over Mako-chan. I should wait... Maybe another time._ Nagisa thought with a sigh.

Nagisa didn't want to rush Chisami into anything- he didn't want to risk her hating him like she almost did earlier that month. Hopefully he wouldn't overdo the friendship thing and make her only think of him as a friend.

Chisami looked up at Nagisa just as he turned to the television to watch the colourful show. He was so cute and so sweet and he definitely wasn't boring. Nagisa was a bundle of fun and Chisami really enjoyed that. She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes, taking in the scent of his clothing and his skin as she did so.

_I think I might... like him. _Chisami thought with a smile.

* * *

_I was a little iffy with posting this chapter because I wasn't sure this was the direction I wanted it to go in- but I think it is! Please tell me what you think by sending me your reviews! Thank you!_


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